


Kiss Your Knuckles

by erinn_bedford



Category: Still Star-Crossed (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Honestly I just wanted to write a fight scene, Tension, the celebrity au that no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-01-06 09:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12208449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erinn_bedford/pseuds/erinn_bedford
Summary: “Capulet.” Something knocks her shoulder, and she twists, knocking him to the floor again. He groans. “I deserved that one.” He holds out a hand, her dagger glinting in the gym light. “I was going to ask if you wanted to fight.”Or, the celebrity AU in which Rosaline and Benvolio fight and then things get out of control.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea got stuck in my head, so here we are. Some background, Rosaline is on a show similar to _Buffy_ and _Wynonna Earp_. Benvolio's show is similar to _Arrow_. They have an epic rivalry for reasons I haven't figured out yet. Title from "Twin Size Mattress" by the Front Bottoms. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!!!

There is something almost dreamlike about the studio at night. It’s quiet, almost uncomfortably so, but it’s the type of quiet that calms her. Rosaline loves her job, but sometimes, it’s a lot to handle. There are tons of people coming in and out of her life each day, and after a day like this, having to do a scene 15 times because the director didn’t like the lighting or the writer adding a scene 5 minutes before they start taping, she needs quiet.

The studio is a massive complex, hosting the home of 3 superhero shows, 2 cop shows, and her demon hunter show, so they had installed a gym, complete with everything any one might need, including a room specifically for weapons training. Typically, throughout the day during free hours, it was crowded with most of the superhero actors, making it nearly impossible for Rosaline to find time to practice without whacking someone in the eye.

So, on very stressful days, she would stay late. So late, that it was only her and Gary the custodian. So late, that she could work out her frustrations and her stress in peace.

She grabs a cheaper version of her staff, the one almost twice her size, puts of her music, and attacks.

There’s nothing but the air in front of her, but if she closes her eyes, she can pretend. Pretend she is fighting someone, not the imaginary demons from her head.

When she first booked the part, Viola had told her it was like a dance, the fight scenes she was going to be learning. Rosaline enrolled in self-defense classes, worked with the choreographer, and practiced. She practiced until the staff felt like an extension of her body. She was still shaky with some of the new weapons they gave her, but others, like her dagger, just added onto the list of weapons she probably felt too comfortable with.

The song ends and she stops, pausing a moment to catch her breath.

Someone claps their hands behind her, causing her to jump, staff poised ready to attack.

“Bravo Capulet. I’m convinced you could actually hurt me with that.” Benvolio Montague says, standing at the door of the gym. He’s in nothing but a pair of mesh shorts and sneakers, his FX scars still painted on his body.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She rushes over to turn off her music, ignoring his chuckle from across the room.

“I mean, probably the same thing you are.” He drops his bag near her speaker, running his hands along the weapons wall until he finds another one of her practice staffs.

“That’s mine.” She says, whacking the edge of her weapon along his knuckles. He curses, but grabs it anyway.

“This is a communal weapons wall. We can use whatever we want.” He swings the staff and it flies out of his hands.

Rosaline rolls her eyes at him, reaching to pick it up. “You obviously don’t know what you’re doing.” She tosses the staff at his chest.

She situates herself back into first position, the first stance Viola taught her. “Like this Montague.”

He copies her stance, nodding as she starts to move.

“No, but really. What are you doing here? Don’t you take up enough of free time during the day.” She lunges, spinning the staff and knocking his out of his hands. 

“We had a late taping. Wasn’t ready to drive home yet.” He moves to pick up his staff, but she swipes, knocking him to the floor.

“This is my free time.” She presses her knee against his chest, rendering him unable to move. “I suggest you go flaunt your abs somewhere else.”

Benvolio flashes her what most magazines had called his panty dropping grin, and kicks himself off the floor. “Looking at my abs are you, now?”

She ignores him, restarting her playlist, trying to find the quiet she had before he walked in.

“Capulet.” Something knocks her shoulder, and she twists, knocking him to the floor again.

He groans. “I deserved that one.” He holds out a hand, her dagger glinting in the gym light. “I was going to ask if you wanted to fight.”

Grabbing her dagger, she tucks it into her leggings before helping him up.

“Fight?”

“Duel. Practice. Look my practice buddy is currently in New York for a movie premiere and I’m itching to fighting someone who’s not afraid to hit me back. It’s been a long day.”

She sighs, missing her favorite song on her playlist because of him, before grabbing a few more things off the weapon wall.

“I thought you primarily fought with a bow and arrow?” She says, lining up her arsenal on the side of the carpet.

“A test audience said they wanted more variety this season.” Benvolio picks up the staff again, attempting to get into first position, but his legs are slightly off.

“But, isn’t that your thing. Like your super power is with a bow and arrow?”

Benvolio shrugs, picking out a sword. “Guess I need a shakeup.” He rolls his shoulders and grins at her, excitement across him face. “Ready Capulet?” He swings the staff in his hands as she readies herself.

“Born ready, Montague.” She makes the first move, swinging her staff, and they clash, the contact sending vibrations through her entire body. It’s easy, to fall into a rhythm, listening to the music, staying one step ahead of Benvolio, telling him what he’s doing wrong.

She goes easy on him, refrains from knocking him over again so she doesn’t hurt his pride too much. The longer they fight, the wider his smile grows, the more confident he gets. Until she lands one sharp hit against his back and he spins, the force of his staff against hers snapping it in half. 

Rosaline stares at the shattered practice staff, before turning her glare onto the Montague.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I really – “

He doesn’t get to finish his statement, because she grabs the dagger out of her waist band and lunges, the dull blade hitting his skin.

“Fair play.” He tosses the staff to the side, and pulls two daggers out of his shorts. “Daggers are something of a specialty of mine.”

“Again, bow and arrow.”

“Sometimes bows break.”

“Stop talking, Montague. Put your money where your mouth is.” She takes a step back, toward where she set up a variety of other weapons, missing the way Benvolio’s eyes glance to her lips for a split second.

He surges forward and she deflects, rolling to the side. He attacks again and she side steps him, reaching down to grab the sword she had chosen.

She swings it comfortably, offering him a delicate smile as they circle around each other.

“Afraid of a little hand to hand, Capulet?”

“Oh no. I just thought we were here to practice with new toys.” She spins the sword again, taking a step closer to him.

“I know for a fact that you are almost as good with a sword as you are with a stick.”

“Staff.” She corrects.

“What?” He drops his daggers and grabs his own sword.

“It’s a staff. Not a stick.”

“Touchy.”

She jabs and lands a hit on his chest, effectively shutting him up.

They don’t talk much after that. He’s sloppy with a sword, movements too big, making it easy for her to get hits on him. But he never stops smiling. Sometimes he mouths along the words of the song playing, sometimes he cheers when he gets a hit on her, but he never stops smiling.

She disarms him and presses the blade against his throat, cornering him along the wall of the gym.

“Surrender.” She says, a smiling teasing on her own face.

“Only if you agree to hand to hand.”

Rosaline rolls her eyes, stepping back. She tosses her sword to the side as she changes the playlist. She’d never admit it out loud, but there was something exhilarating about practicing with Benvolio. It’s challenging, fighting someone new, someone who she can barely get along with. But it’s nice. She would tell him how to adjust a movement, and he would teach her a new stance.

There’s a pause in the music one playlist ending and the other taking a few moments to start, and she collapses on the floor, taking a much-needed break. Benvolio is facing away from her, wiping a towel over his face.

From this angle, she can see the muscles in his back, the sweat dripping down his arms, the sharp outline of his jaw. Rosaline knows Benvolio Montague is attractive. He’s been named one of the sexiest men on the planet two years in a row. But she never really allowed herself to look.

Later, she would blame the late hour, the exhaustion from working out, the lack of coffee, but in the moment, she allows herself to watch.

He’s far too attractive for his own good. Rosaline can understand why there are articles ranking his shirtless scenes, why he had so many shirtless scenes, why fans would get flustered by him. It isn’t a bad view.

“Like what you see, Capulet?” He glances at her over his shoulder, smirk out in full force.

“I’m just trying to understand.” She says, tearing her eyes away from him to focus on something, anything else.

“Understand what?”

“Why people swoon over you shirtless.” She sighs, feigning indifference.

“And?” He sounds much to curious. If he’s going to make fun of her for staring, she’s going to make fun of him for pointing it out.

“I don’t get it.”

The towel hits her face, and she laughs, throwing it back at him as she makes her way back to the floor.

“Okay, so obviously, no face shots. We should probably keep hard contact to a minimum, I don’t need someone bitching about you having a bruise or me being too sore.” Rosaline says, readying her hands.

“Any more ground rules?” He asks.

“Just don’t play dirty, Montague.”

He jumps up and down a few times, before rushing forward. She easily deflects him, sweeping her leg under him, so he needs to jump in order to stay on his feet. She swings a hand toward his jaw, less force that typical to keep from actually making contact. His hand swipes her away, before he sends a punch toward her chest.

It’s more calming than it should be, fighting someone who knows how to hold their punches, but make it still feel real. Typically, when she fights people other than Isabella, they take it too easy, hands stopping miles away so it is a fake fight. But Benvolio acts fast, moving almost too quickly for her. She dodges a punch, falling to the floor to do so, and he follows, tumbling forward to pin her to the ground.

She struggles underneath him, but he locks her arms over her head.

“Easy, Ros.” He whispers. Her name falling from his lips sends of jolt of electricity through her body, but he doesn’t notice. All he does is lean closer to him, so close their faces are almost touching.

The last thing Rosaline should be thinking about is kissing Benvolio Montague, but she can’t really help it. They are both breathing hard, chests pushing against each other with her passing second.

“Surrender.”

The playfulness from before is gone. The smile on his lips is more seductive than excited, and Rosaline suddenly can feel him everywhere.

“No.” She challenges, wrapping her legs around his waist. His cheeks tinge pink, and whatever he was about to say is gone. “I think you should surrender.” She uses all her power to flip them, releasing her hands as she does.

She pulls the dagger out of her pants again, and lays the dull blade along his throat. “I win.”

One of his hands is captive under her knee, but the other is free, and it slides onto her waist.

“We hate each other, right, Capulet?”

“We do.” She agrees, only slightly lessening the pressure on his neck.

“What do you think would happen if we kis–“

A door slams, and Rosaline is up, body on guard within a second. She can feel Ben behind her, tension in the air.

“Sorry Rosie! I didn’t know you were still here.” Gary says. There is a giggle from behind him, and a young girl pops out. “This is my daughter, Mariam.”

She relaxes, dropping her dagger before walking over to say hi. When Benvolio joins them, he has a shirt on, and a million-dollar smile as he says hi to the teenager.

Gary says he will clean another room first, and then she is alone with Ben again. He doesn’t say anything to her as they clean up, placing the weapons back on the wall, packing their bags.

“Thanks,” he says, his back to her as he walks towards the door. “For practicing with me. I had fun.”

“Me too.” She offers him a smile, one he returns, slightly reluctant.

“Have a good night Capulet.”

Before she can say anything else he is out the door and she’s left all alone in the gym, wondering how she went from fighting to almost kissing Benvolio Montague in the span of less than two hours.

Three hours later, once she’s showered and in bed with a cup of tea and her Netflix queue, she gets the text from Olivia.

The picture is grainy, but it’s clear enough.

**Watch _Demonology’s_ Rosaline Capulet and _Vigilante’s_ Benvolio Montague get hot and steamy!**

She’s able to get the tea cup on the table before the next 5 texts come in. It takes her another minute to shut her phone off, another to press play on the show.

She’s had a long day. She can deal with whatever is coming tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented and asked for more. You guys are the reason this happened. I hope this holds up to the first chapter. Thanks for reading!

It takes less than 12 hours for the article to explode across the internet. By the time Rosaline turns her phone on the next morning, she had 37 missed calls from Juliet, 12 messages from Livia, and over a hundred texts and messages combined from various people, including Isabella and her uncle. She even receives an email from her aunt, who hasn’t spoken to her since she was cast as Aquila on her show.

She plays the messages, answers Olivia, deletes the email from her aunt, attempts to change the subject in her group chat with Livia and Juliet, and still gets to work with enough time to sip on her coffee before they herd her off for makeup.

The almost peace she finds staring into her coffee shatters. Her director rushes in, call numbers are called, someone fixes her hair into a bun, and she’s walking across the sound stage crying over Isabella’s stand in, because she’s still in Italy for a week.

She’s able to block out the stupid article and the mistakes of last night through the takes, allowing herself to escape into the imaginary world she’s been a part of for three years. The world of demons and monsters and everything else that can be demolished with a staff.

When she finally gets a moment to sit, a moment to herself, someone walks into craft services, once again destroying the calm she’s working so hard to achieve.

“Someone’s here for you Ros. I told him to wait, because I didn’t know if you were shooting a scene, but he wouldn’t listen, and I’m sor— “

The interns cut off by someone strolling into the room, and grabbing her shoulders. “Thank you Louisa, I think I can take it from here.” Benvolio Montague says, spinning the poor girl slightly out of the way. Louisa’s cheeks heat up and she sends Rosaline a sympathetic look before making her way back to the sound stage.

“What are you doing here?” Her beautiful mac and cheese sits idly on the spoon, her appetite gone the second he steps into the room.

“I wanted to come and say hi.” He reaches over to steal her food, and her brain is too slow to whack his hand away.

“Montague.” She warns. He holds his hands in surrender, leaning back on the chair like he belongs here.

“Have you heard?”

“About?”

He stares at her for a moment, contemplating her before sighing. “You know what, Capulet.”

“Of course I saw it you dolt.” As if to accentuate her point, Livia texts her at the exact moment, mentioning yet another article that has been published, this time talking about their secret relationship.

“Have you talked to your agent yet?”

“No?” She closes out of the article and goes back to her mac and cheese. “Why?”

Benvolio sighs again, dragging his hand over his face. “Because, apparently, our agents have talked and they have a plan.”

“A plan?”

He nods, and steals another a piece of pasta from the side of her plate.

“According to Seb, our google searches individually have gone up by some crazy number, which led to another crazy percentage of people clicking on pages about our shows, and internet searches about how to watch them, and I don’t get much of it, but basically it was a great for publicity.” He stops, staring at her for a moment.

“And…?”

“They want me to be your date for the Emmy’s next weekend.” 

Of all days, it had to be mac and cheese day.

Rosaline pushes herself away from the table and all but runs, anywhere, somewhere that isn’t here. She doesn’t want to handle this right now.

“Capulet wait!”

Something crashes behind her, but she keeps moving, keeps walking until she can see the door that will lead her outside, the door that will get her away.

“Capulet! Rosaline.”

Her step falters.

The don’t like each other. Magazines and gossip sites had covered their apparent rivalry before. The last thing they are is friends. The last thing she wants to do is pretend to like him for the cameras, for the publicity. She once promised herself she would never compromise herself for the sake of her career, and pretending to be someone she’s not, when she’s not playing a character, would be crossing a line.

“Rosaline please. I’m sorry.” His arm catches hers just before she reaches the door, sending a spark through her body.

She hates it. She hates herself for allowing it to happen, hates that he’s get a reaction out of her, hates that they were civil to each other for less than three hours but he somehow made his way under her skin.

“I shouldn’t have imposed on your work out time last night. And I should have let your agent talk to you first.”

They are cornered in the darkest part of the sound stage, right before the door. His hand is still resting on his arm, and for a split second, her mind filters to last night, to his hand sliding up her waist, chests heaving against each other, lips less than breath away. She tugs her hand away and takes a step back.

“Don’t apologize. I just, you know, it’s been a long day since yesterday and everything I fixed during whatever last night was, crashed before I went to bed.” She wraps her arms around herself. “I need to talk to Olivia first.” She kicks an imaginary something on the ground, avoiding his eyes. “And don’t come into my studio uninvited again. One work out session doesn’t mean I like you.” She says, giving him a small teasing smile as she pushes past him, fully intent on making a dramatic exit, one that could put Aquila to shame. She stops, seconds before she’s outside, turning to him.

“I don’t regret it.”

He looks up at her, the light from outside hitting his eyes perfectly that it makes her heart skip a beat.

“What?”

“Last night. Sparring, whatever it was. I don’t regret it. The only other person I ever feel comfortable fighting is Isabella, and last night I felt comfortable with you. So, apologize for other things, but not that.” She squeezes his shoulder and stalks outside the stage before he can say anything else. 

She doesn’t like Benvolio Montague. She certainly isn’t going to think about how much she wanted to kiss him last night.

xXx

“Rose, I don’t know what to tell you sweetheart.” Olivia walks around the table and sits next to Rosaline on the couch. “I know you think this looks bad, but honestly, it isn’t the worst. Everything the Montague said about the numbers is true. And I don’t want him to be your date to the Emmy’s. He worded it wrong, because he’s a Montague.” She takes a moment to roll her eyes. “Juliet and Romeo are already going, and I thought you all take the same limo and walk in together. Nothing serious. Nothing to compromise yourself. Just enough that we can control the narrative.”

Rosaline sighs, the tension in her body that she’s had since she first seen the article slightly diminishing. “So no pretending?”

“No, no, of course not. More like strategic placement. Just walk out of the car and into the place in the same general space. Most people will be too preoccupied with the newlyweds and with your several nominations to be worried about who you show up with.”

“We control the narrative?”

“Exactly.”

Rosaline smiles, and Olivia pulls her into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. It’s not the end of the world.”

Her agent’s office is bright and sunny, and if Rosaline looks out, she can just see the city’s skyline. Shooting in Vancouver had its pros and cons, but she doesn’t think she would trade it for the world.

Olivia stands, walking over to her coffee maker, sprinkling three packs of sugar into her drink. “Tell me, how’s the youngest Capulet doing?”

“Livia? She’s still in Australia for the Orsino shoot. She should be back next week.” Rosaline explains. Her sister had accidentally become a model two years into college, and was on track to becoming a household name, all while finishing her biomedical engineering degree.

“And Jules?” Olivia passes her a cup of coffee and settle in behind her desk.

“You’re her agent too.”

“Yes, but she’s been in Spain for months taping that new movie. We barely speak of anything besides what my people tell me of her. I know you have more info.”

Rosaline shrugs. “She said once she gets home she’ll tell me everything so I guess we both have to wait.”

Olivia sighs dramatically, one of her best qualities, and pats Rosaline’s hand. “You’re a useless gossip, but I promise to keep you safe, darling. I’ll see you before the show next weekend.” She kisses her cheek, and then Rosaline’s walking back to her condo, wondering how exactly she’s going to spend an entire evening with Romeo and Juliet, and Benvolio Montague.

xXx

She’s starting to think he never wears a shirt.

Granted, this time, he’s on set, so it’s not really his own choice, but she’s seen more of his abs in the past three days than she ever thought she would need to her lifetime.

The camera is still rolling so she settles into his set chair and watches. It’s one of her guilty pleasures, watching another actor act. She knows how she is, and how the other cast member on her show are, but it’s different watching another show.

Stella Lowe, Benvolio’s on screen love interest and real-life ex, sits on a couch, covered in an extra-long shirt, blood on her face. Benvolio himself stands behind a door, presumably the bathroom, while one of the makeup artists sprays him with a water bottle, the hair stylist tousling his hair. 

The scene starts and it’s a short one, one more of longing looks and secret touches, whispered promises and an almost kiss.

“We can’t.” Stella whispers, as Ella. There’s the perfect amount of pain in her eyes.

“Of course, I’m sorry.” Benvolio, Drew, says, pulling himself back and disappearing through another door.

The director calls cut and Stella jumps up, stretching herself out, instantly joyful again. It’s one of the reasons Rosaline loves watching so much. The moment the actor breaks from character and becomes a whole new person is like watching magic happen. 

She watches the set change, the crew get to work on moving to a new setting, the warmth of Drew’s apartment melting into the cool crystal interior of the villain’s lair.

“Just couldn’t stay away could you?”

She twists in the chair, just in time to see him pull a tight shirt over his bare skin, leaving only the memory of what was there.

“I came to say yes.” Rosaline crosses her legs, and gives her flirtiest smile, the one she uses when Aquila is attempting to seduce someone into giving her information.

“Yes?” Benvolio asks, face drawn in confusion

“To you being my arm candy for the Emmy’s.”

Stella walks past at that exact moment, and for a split second, Rosaline sees her smile falter, but she blinks and it’s gone, Stella patting Benvolio’s arm as she passes.

“Bruno says next take in fifteen.” She turns to Rosaline. “Hey! How are you? Hope this one’s not bothering you too much.”

“Only as much as I allow him too.”

Benvolio looks insulted for a split second as the girls laugh at him, but is melts away once Rosaline turns her eyes on him. Stella’s gone the next second, leaving just her and Benvolio again.

“Arm candy. Capulet please. I’m more like arm dessert, don’t sell me short.” He offers a smile, not as comfortable as the ones he gave two nights ago, but close.

“Okay then, arm dessert. Olivia explained everything to me. Also, if you’re there near me, it will make the paps less likely to ask about you when they can be asking about important things.”

“Like you being nominated for actress of the year?” Ben says.

“And other things.” She felt the heat enter her cheeks, but ignores it. She wasn’t expecting him to know or acknowledge her nomination. She doesn’t know exactly how to feel about it.

He stretches, the edge of his shirt reaching up with him, not pushing the subject. “We’re going with the lovebirds, right?”

“Yep.” Rosaline ignores the stretch of skin now available to her eyes. She doesn’t like him. She isn’t attracted to him. She needs to get a grip.

“Alright then.” He reaches forward, and grabs her phone out of her hand. “So next time, you don’t take over my seat.” He winks at her before he’s skirted away by the costume department, a smirk teasing his lips.

She doesn’t like him. She refuses to like him. Maybe if she repeats it enough times, it will actually stick. Even if the flutter in her stomach is telling her something different.


	3. Chapter 3

Rosaline loves working in Vancouver, but nothing compares to waking up in California. It’s her home, no matter how many times she’s tried to run away.

The week off from taping is also a nice rest. There’s two days until the Emmy’s. Rosaline has two, blissful days to herself, before she needs to worry about cameras and questions and the possibility of winning an actual award, and she plans on using them to start working on her house.

Well, her parents’ house, the one she grew up in, the one that lay abandoned after the accident, the one that Rosaline put most of her savings into buying back from the market when she learned it was up for sale.

The house needs a lot of work. It’s basically a shell of what it used to be, but she likes the challenge. And once she’s fixed it, it will be a place for a Livia, Juliet, and her that they can share if they want, or have a place to stay when they need it.

She’s just about to start planning on what she should do first when her phone dings.

Benvolio’s contact lights up her screen, and she wants to scream. She has two days until she has to deal with their publicity stunt, and the last thing she wants to do is think about him before she has too.

_Have you heard?_

Rosaline finishes twisting her hair into a bun. She hasn’t talked to him since they agreed to the plan, so she has no idea what he’s talking about.

_Care to elaborate?_

She flicks though her phone until she finds a playlist she likes, and turns her messages on silent. She can deal with the Montague later. Scanning the notebook in front of her, she tries to decide between knocking down a wall with a sledge hammer or pulling up the carpet, when she hears the front door.

No one knows exactly where she is. Rosaline grabs the wrench from the tool box and moves behind the wall, readying herself.

Something drops to the ground. Someone hums along with the song.

“You know for all the shit you gave me about marrying a Montague, you really know how to cause a stir for doing nearly the exact same thing.” Juliet says, a smirk rivaling Livia’s resting on her face.

Rosaline drops the wrench and runs forward to hug her cousin.

“How did you find me?”

“We have each other’s locations silly, don’t you remember.” Juliet kisses both of her cheeks, and pulls back to look her. “I’m gone for three months Rosaline. How much did I miss?” Juliet’s hair is lighter and her skin is tanner, and there a sparkling little diamond on her left hand that she definitely did not leave with.

She had been cast in a movie that taped in Greece, opposite of Romeo Montague. They met on a Monday and before the week was up, all the gossip sites where claiming they had gotten married, and it took Juliet three weeks to answer any one’s texts or calls.

“How much did you miss? Juliet, you got married. To a Montague! Do you know how furious your dad was? He nearly sent me out to bring you home!”

“Don’t change the subject, Ros.” Juliet smiles at her, dancing out of Rosaline’s grip to search the little cooler she had brought along. 

“I told you exactly what happened. You on the other hand have not told me anything.”

Juliet pulls the hummus and carrots out of the cooler and pats the ground next to her. “Come sit. I’m hungry.” She holds out a carrot.

Rosaline rolls her eyes but complies anyway. 

“I fell in love. It was a whirlwind and before I knew it we were standing in a tiny chapel in Greece, and Ros, it was so romantic. Somehow it got out, but we were taping in this remote little town with zero internet and when I called you that’s the first I knew. I swear. But Ros, he’s wonderful, nothing like Father always said.” She takes a bite of her carrot and chews on her lip. “There’s a slight problem, however.”

“Jules?”

Juliet sighs and pushes herself off the floor. “The paperwork doesn’t carry over to home because we did something wrong that night, and well, I need your help.”

“What?” Rosaline asks. Juliet twists the ring around her finger and paces.

“I need you to be a witness at my wedding. Today.” She glances at her watch. “In about an hour.”

“Juliet, no, I can’t let you – “

“I’m having dinner with mom tomorrow and you know she is going to look for every loophole she can, and I love him, Rose, I love him more than anything. I know this is the last thing you want to do, but I need this. I’ll never ask you for anything again, I promise, but please.” She breaks out the puppy eyes, and Rosaline feels like they are kids again, Juliet asking her to cover for her when she sneaks out to see her boyfriend.

She wants to say no. It would make everyone’s lives so much easier, but Rosaline knows Juliet, and she’s only been with her for about an hour and she knows how much Romeo Montague means to her.

“Fine.”

“Oh, my god, really! Rosaline, I love you.” Juliet attacks her in a hug, before pulling out her phone to call her fiancé.

Rosaline closes her notebook, knowing she won’t be able to start work on her house yet. She opens her phone to turn off her playlist, only to be met with at least 10 messages from Benvolio.

_Our cousins._

_Capulet, they aren’t married yet._

_Romeo just told me._

_What should we do?_

_Capulet?_

_Are you ignoring me?_

_Please tell me you aren’t killing Juliet, Romeo would never forgive me._

“We’ll meet you there. I love you.” Juliet rounds the corner, a smile so wide it nearly blinds Rosaline.

_I know. I assume I’ll be seeing you soon._

Juliet grabs her hand and drags her toward the car, prattling on about Greece and Romeo and their dresses for the Emmy’s. She gives Rosaline a dress to wear for the courthouse so she isn’t in her best pair of beat up jeans and an old college sweatshirt, and even though the entire thing is most likely going to blow up in their faces, Rosaline allows herself to smile.

xXx

If someone had told 12 years old Rosaline that Juliet Capulet would be married on the steps of a courthouse with two witnesses instead of a huge wedding with at least 200 guests, she wouldn’t have believed them.

But she’s standing, hands intertwined with Romeo Montague’s, a group of wildflowers braided into her hair, in the last spot Rosaline ever thought they would be.

The door crashes open and Benvolio falls in, two simple silver bands in his hands, only 5 minutes late.

“Sorry. Romeo left these at the house, I had to drive all the way back.” He drops the rings into Romeo’s hand, and brushes imaginary dust off his cousin’s shoulder. “Alright, one last time. I can’t let you do this.”

For some reason, both Benvolio and Romeo’s smiles grow. “It’s already done.”

“Then let’s get you married.”

Benvolio walks over to stand next to Rosaline and before they can say anything else, they are signing papers and saying their vows and Juliet Capulet is officially married to Romeo Montague, and for some reason, Rosaline feels like everything just might be okay.

They drive back to the boy’s hotel room they have for the week, Benvolio orders champagne and cake, and Romeo and Juliet are dancing to an Ed Sheeran song playing from someone’s phone.

“Quite a way to start the day, huh?” Benvolio says, dropping onto the couch next to Rosaline, passing her a piece of cake and a glass of champagne.

“Not exactly how I pictured this week starting, but here we are.”

Romeo spins Juliet around, their laughter filling the room.

“Where did you expect it to go?”

“Punching a whole in a wall.”

Benvolio’s face screws up in confusion, but before she explains herself, Juliet runs over and grabs Rosaline’s hands, pulling her so she can make her dance.

Romeo collapses next to his cousin, and when Rosaline glances at them, they have twin looks of happiness on their faces watching the girls dancing, and it makes Rosaline’s stomach twist.

She understands Romeo’s happiness, but the smile on Benvolio’s face is one she’s only seen once before. It’s a smile that she thinks is reserved for special moments, not one that he should be sharing with her more than once.

He catches her eye, and the tips of his ears tinge pink before she tears her eyes away, and she blames it on the champagne and the fact that their cousin’s happiness is contagious.

xXx

The dress fits better than Rosaline was expecting, and she feels like an actual princess. She twirls, the tiny diamonds sewn into the tulle catching the light as she does.

Juliet claps, capturing it on snapchat, and it feels like they are children again, playing dress up in their mothers’ things, except this time and they have someone actually doing their hair and makeup. The only thing missing is Livia, but she’s still in Australia.

Someone alerts them the car is here, and then they are being herded out, down the stairs to where the boys wait, like it’s prom all over again, expect this time Rosaline isn’t going with the boy she loves and Juliet isn’t going to dump her date the next week.

Olivia snaps a picture with her phone to memorialize the moment, and Romeo looks so happy that he’s almost going to cry as Juliet walks down the steps to him. Rosaline lets them have their moment, quietly walking over toward where Benvolio waits.

She lets herself take Benvolio Montague in a suit in, the simple black and white combo never looking so good on anyone before. The jacket fits him just right, the shirt pulled tight in the right places, and bowtie pulling the look together.

Suddenly her mouth is very dry, and her brain supplies her with an image of that bowtie on the floor of her bedroom.

“See something you like, Capulet?” He asks, shaking her from her mind.

“In your dreams, Montague.”

He licks his lips and his eyes trail her up and down. “Only every night.”

Heat shoots straight through her body. She wants to punch something. She wants to punch him. She also slightly wants to kiss him, but she blames that on the night and the jitters in her stomach.

She pushes past him toward the door, but he gently grabs her wrist before she’s fully past him. “You look stunning, Capulet. If there was anyone that had to be my publicity date tonight, I’m glad it’s you.”

Before she can answer him, Olivia is yelling about times and schedules and pushing everyone out the door, and by the time they get into the car, she feels it’s too late to answer him back.

xXx

She can hear the cameras before she she’s them. The snapping, the yelling, the flashes. The limo pulls up to the drop off line. Juliet whispers something to Romeo.

The last time Rosaline was on the red carpet, Escalus was beside her. That was before the break up, before _Demonology _became something award worthy, before Rosaline knew what true heartbreak was.__

__He was there during her first red carpet, during her first major audition, through college, through prom, through high school, through everything. Escalus was her best friend. He was the one who found her after her parents died, after the cameras and the paparazzi had attacked her coming from the hospital, after her world crashed and ruined._ _

__He was there the last time she was on the red carpet, leading her through the panic that threatened to send her running away._ _

__And now, she’s alone._ _

__“Ros,” Juliet knocks their knees together and flashes her a smile. “Do you want to leave the car first? I mean it is your night and all.”_ _

__Rosaline swallows, and tries to calm herself. “No. You guys should go first. You know what you are doing, and I want you to lead the way.”_ _

__Juliet had won an academy award for his first major movie, and Rosaline knew if she can see Juliet in front of her, she will be okay._ _

__“If you’re sure…”_ _

__Rosaline nods, and Juliet pats her knee as they pull up to the carpet. “Breathe.” She kisses Rosaline’s cheek, and then her and Romeo climb out of the car and are greeting by a thunderous sound of screams and camera flashes._ _

__Rosaline takes the breath her cousin recommended, and then she follows their lead, climbing out of the car and into the wild sea of cameras and fans._ _

__She tries to take another breath, but instead, she’s lost. She can’t find Romeo and Juliet in front of her, and everything seems too much. She can’t breathe. She can’t think. Suddenly she’s thirteen years old again, following her uncle to the car, trying not to cry as the cameras attack her only hours after her parents said goodbye to her for the last time._ _

__A hand connects with the small of her back. “Breathe.”_ _

__His hand is warm. He is real and present, and he leads her forward, directing her through the crowd until Olivia is sending them toward a news correspondent._ _

__Benvolio gets her to the stand, and takes his arm away, stepping toward Romeo and Juliet._ _

__She grabs his arm before he does, and pulls him closer._ _

__“Thank you.”_ _

__He gives her a reassuring smile, and squeezes her hand. “Just remember to breath, Capulet.”_ _

__She nods and then he’s gone, and she focuses on the questions, smiles when she’s supposed to, and before she knows it they are in the last leg of the carpet, and she can see the door._ _

__Benvolio slides next to her close enough that when they take a picture it’s not awkward, but he doesn’t touch her._ _

__She pretends it doesn’t bother her._ _

__He smiles at the camera, but something about the smile is off. It’s too forced._ _

__They move to the next station, and she stands closer to him that before._ _

__“Put your arm around me.”_ _

__He turns from the cameras to look at her, and her heart skips a beat. His hand slowly slides around her waist again, and Rosaline suddenly cannot breathe for an entirely different reason._ _

__A camera snaps. A light flashes._ _

__“Rosaline over here!”_ _

__The moment is broken, Benvolio’s forced smile is back, and someone ushers them inside the theater, tearing them apart._ _

__Someone else is telling her when her nomination is being called, where she has to sit and a bunch of other information, but he mind is wandering and she feels less steady than she when she left the car._ _

___Breathe, Rosaline._ She tells herself. She tries to push memories of sweaty skin and sword fights from her mind._ _

__Benvolio appears next to her again as they are moving toward their seats, Romeo and Juliet falling into step next to them._ _

__He winks at her just before they take their seats._ _

___Just remember to breathe._ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry this chapter took so long, I've had school and it took a while to figure out exactly where this was going. Thanks for reading!!!


	4. Chapter 4

“I go away for three weeks, and come back to my best friend winning an Emmy and dating a Montague.” Isabelle Prince says, falling into the makeup seat next to Rosaline.

“You go away for three weeks and get engaged.” Rosaline fires back, a smile teasing her lips. “Why is everyone I know getting in serious relationships.” She reaches over to see the delicate ring resting on Isabella’s left hand. “Tell me exactly how Helena proposed.”

Isabella blushes and goes into the story, giving a lavish description of her entire time in Italy, how her girlfriend surprised her, how she was going to buy Helena her own engagement ring and needed Rosaline’s help.

“Enough about me. Tell me about the Montague.” Isabella’s eyes sparkle.

“There’s nothing to say. You were frolicking all over Italy so I had no one to spar with, and he was a convenient substitute. Someone took a video, the world assumed, and he came with me to the Emmy’s. That’s it.” Rosaline says. And, honestly, she thinks that’s all it is. They came back to Vancouver together, leaving Romeo and Juliet house shopping in California, and since that day, she hasn’t seen much of him. And she’s okay with. Whatever happened was in the past. Whatever was happening is over.

“Oh yes, these photos totally say nothing is happening.” Isabella passes her phone over, a picture of them from the red carpet on the screen.

It’s one of the last photos they took together, when she told him it was okay to wrap an arm around her. She has a small smile on her face, eyes locked on his, as he leans closer to her. It looks intimate. It looks like they are more than friends. She understands where the gossip sites are getting their stories from.

“It was a split second, and someone got a good picture.”

“Mhmm.” Isabella nods a smug grin on her face.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“I heard your thoughts.” Rosaline pushes herself off the chair, hair finally done and makes her way to costume, trying to shake Isabella’s comments out of her head.

The director starts talking about the scene, and Rosaline is standing in front of Isabella on a hospital bed, finally out of her coma. It’s easy for Rosaline to become Aquila, to let the stress of real-life disappear.

They break for lunch after a decent day of shooting, and Isabella drags her toward the car so they can go find an engagement ring for Helena. They are halfway to the parking lot, when Isabella stops, eyes falling on none other than Benvolio Montague, Stella by his side.

Somehow, Isabella drags her over to them, and then they are going to lunch together, ring shopping paused until tomorrow, and Benvolio won’t make eye contact with her. It’s weird. Weird to have gone from basically hating each other to dancing to some stupid song at some stupid after party, to this.

It’s more than weird it’s awkward and almost makes her hate him again. Isabella and Stella are lost in conversation, and Rosaline excuses herself to the bathroom.

The water washes over hand hands, freezing cold, waking her up. She doesn’t want things to be awkward. She doesn’t know exactly what she wants things with Benvolio Montague to be like, but sitting across from a table and not even looking at each other doesn’t cut it. Before everything, they would have at least been fighting about something, and she almost misses it. She used to know where she stood with him, but now she doesn’t, and it makes everything worse.

The door to the bathroom slams shut, making her jump. She turns to leave, but standing before her is the exact reason she escaped to the bathroom.

“Wrong door, Montague,” She says, making her way to move past him, but he gently places a hand on her arm.

“We need to talk.”

“Now?”

He gives her a pleading look, and it makes her stop.

“What?” She leans back against the door, so they’ll have a warning if anyone tries to come in.

“What are we?” Ben tugs at his hair, pacing back and forth.

“Excuse me?”

“A month ago, we hated each other. Like enough that tabloids would write essays covering out feud, and then the night in the gym, and the Emmy’s, and I don’t know what we are anymore. So you need to tell me, so I don’t make you start hating me again.” He stops pacing. “Unless, that’s what you want of course.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t hate you.”

Relief washes across his face, and something tugs at her heart.

“Friends.” She offers. “Or, coconspirators against shitty gossip sites.”

He smiles, and her heart tugs again.

He sticks out his hand. “Friends?”

She shakes it, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “Friends.”

xXx

“We’ve been summoned.” Stella says when they make their way back to the table, dangling her phone between them.

“By?” Benvolio asks, picking up his to go box.

“His Royal Majesty.” Stella jokes. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Stella says, turning to Isabella.

“Don’t apologize.” Isabella says with a roll of her eyes. “He’s my brother, trust me I know how I can be.”

Rosaline glances at her phone, just in time to see a message pop into her inbox. “What time is your meeting? Ours is at 2.”

Isabella hooks her chin over her shoulder. “Hmm. Odd.”

“So is ours.”

Ben’s eyes catch Rosaline’s over the table, but he just shrugs.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to find out together.” Stella says. She hooks arms with Isabella, and they walk out of the restaurant together, laughing about something Isabella says about her brother.

xXx

The things Rosaline hates most about Escalus’ office is the memories. She was eating Chinese food at his desk when he first asked her out. They shared a kiss near the door, they made out on top of his desk.

He broke up with her in the same spot she’s sitting in now, saying he was going to president of the network, so he no longer had time for her. The room is filled to the brim with show runners and executive producers, writers, and actors from both shows. Isabella swears she doesn’t know anything and Benvolio won’t stop shaking his leg on the other side of the room.

But, Escalus Prince, the network president himself is missing. His spot behind his desk is empty and Matteo, his second in command is trying to keep the room from getting too loud.

“If we could all settle down, this will go faster.” Escalus says, strolling across the room. He only stops once to pat Isabella’s shoulder, and then, he sits in his chair, looking like a king instead of the executive of Principle networks. He catches Rosaline’s eye and offers her a small smile. She ignores him.

“I know you all have a couple hours of taping left, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience, my flight from California was late. But I was talking to my people, the ones who do numbers and ratings, and they suggested something. A crossover event, between _Demonology_ and _Vigilante_. One that highlights, the” Escalus pauses, a moment a confusion crossing his face, “The chemistry between our two leads.”

When he broke up with her without warning, Rosaline wanted to slap him in the face. Now, she wishes she had. Now, she wants to punch him.

“You want to exploit gossip sites?” She asks. Isabella’s hand drops to her arm, as if to stop her, but Rosaline ignores it. “You want to make our writers change entire plot lines because of a video that a teenage girl sent her friend, who violated her trust and made something out of nothing, what for views. You want to mess with a love story, that, sorry,” Rosaline turns to Stella, “How long has your relationship been happening?”

“5 and a half seasons, but Ros- “

“A love story that has been happening for 5 and half seasons, for 45 minutes of buildup. Our shows have no point of crossover. We fight demons. They fight super villains.”

“Miss. Capulet, please.” Escalus starts, and something inside of her cracks, because they had so much, and now it was all reduced to professionalisms and bullshit.

“You’re making something out of nothing. As far as I know, neither of our shows are suffering so this is bullshit.”

She’s so angry, and she’s even sure why. Isabella grabs her hand again, but Rosaline is not going to stop. He broke her heart, left the country, and only spoke to her when it had to do with making bad decisions about her show.

She’s not planning on stopping, until she hears him.

“Capulet.”

The room is loud, full of voice and whispers, but somehow, she hears him. Benvolio catches her eye and shakes his head ever so slightly. And for some reason, it makes her stop.

She stands, pushing her chair back so far that it crashes to the ground. “No. Find some other way to make your network the top story on whatever gossip site you read. You don’t get to exploit my life.”

Rosaline stalks out of the office, pushing the tears off her cheeks as she goes.

xXx

She finds one of Livia’s destressing teas in her trailer and starts to kettle. She knows she acted terribly partly because of Escalus, but she still feels justified in most of what she said. A romance plotline in a crossover episode had worked with other shows, but they were actually in the same universe. And typically, without a relationship considered as iconic as what was happening between Drew and Ella.

The kettle starts to scream just as someone knocks on her door. She takes her time pouring the tea, counting to ten, and trying the breathing exercise she learned from the one yoga class she took. She tells herself she’s ready for anything.

“I’m sorry.” Escalus stands at her steps, eyes downcast.

“What the hell are you doing here?” For a split second she is mad at herself for leaving the tea at the table, but possibly burning her boss with boiling water would not be the best idea.

“I wanted — needed to make sure you were okay.” He takes the next step up to her door, but she places her hand on his chest and pushes him back.

“I think it’s a little too late for that now, Mr. Prince.”

He flinches at her words. Rosaline thinks Livia would be proud of her for keeping her cool.

“Rosaline, it’s what is best for the network. We are falling behind other studios, and with you and the Montague so prevalent in the news now, ending the feud, supporting Romeo and Juliet, it could be what we need to be the top network this year. Which could mean more money into the production of our shows.”

“You already ruined us, for the network, and now you want to drag my personal life into it.” She says.

He scrubs his hand over his head, and for a moment, he looks like the man who oversaw the Principal Network shows that taped in Canada, the man who asked her out to dinner over Chinese food, the man who told her he loved her.

“Please. I promise this is the last thing I will ever ask of you. But please.”

Her hands are clenched so tight that she can feel her nails leaving marks on her palm. “Fine. But the next time you plan on making a decision for the network that involves my personal life, don’t.” She slams the door before he can say anything else, hoping her tea is still hot enough to make her heart stop hurting so much.

xXx

The punching bag swings back so hard it almost knocks her over. After the meeting from hell, taping was pushed back 3 hours, her show runner Emilia was stressed, making everyone tense, and Isabella kept being called away from her scenes to talk to her brother.

It’s late, and the weapons room is currently being cleaned, so she settles for the punching bag. And it’s good, because she’s not stressed, she’s angry, and she can work out alone and be able to feel something back instead of hitting the air.

She’s blasting music in her headphones from the playlist Livia dubbed ‘angry middle school Rose’ so loud that it almost hurts her ears.

The sweat is dripping down her back, and a few curls have escaped from her bun, and she doesn’t feel good, per say, but she feels something. Which is about as much as she can hope for at the moment.

Something touches her arm, and without thinking she swings, her fist colliding with someone’s face.

“Shit!” She rips out her head phones, hands moving to cradle Benvolio’s face.

“Ow.” His hand folds around her along his jaw. “I deserved that. But Jesus fuck Capulet that hurt.”

“I’m so sorry. Here, sit down, I’ll go get ice.” She says, but she doesn’t move, almost afraid to take her hands from his cheeks.

“Thanks.” He opens his mouth, testing his jaw, and she runs to get him an ice pack.

She can’t find a towel so she wraps the ice pack in her discarded shirt.

“Here.” She slides on her knees until she can press the cloth against his face, ignoring the angry red swelling. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine. Hey,” He gently grabs her chin. “I’m fine. I wanted to come and check on you. Earlier, actually, but we had extra-long taping today.” He shrugs, trying to play it off.

“I don’t need checking up on.”

She’s not mad at him. Not really. She’s mad at the entire world, and the fact that people are talking about her love life, and Escalus, mostly, for using her as pawn. So, she’s not mad at him, but he’s the closest person to her at the moment.

“I – “

“I can handle myself. I can handle my ex-boyfriend by myself. I don’t need a Montague to make sure I’m okay.” Her hand is still cupping his face. They are still close enough that if the tabloids somehow got another picture of them, rumors could be made.

“I didn’t come here as a Montague, Capulet, I came here as a friend.” His hand wraps around her wrist, and she’s pretty sure they are fighting, but she doesn’t want to move.

“A friend. You didn’t even oppose the idea! I stood there all by myself!”

“I need to pick my battles. He already hates me. Our first season I was always in the tabloids for doing something wrong. Drinking too much, getting into fights. I decided it would be smarter to let him have this.”

“It doesn’t make sense!”

“It doesn’t have too! He’s our boss. He gets the make these decisions. Not all of us have the privilege of speaking without consequences.” He moves forward as he speaks, and they arguing, but his hand smooths a curl behind her ear, their voices more tense than angry.

She doesn’t want to be fighting with him. She doesn’t want to be mad at him.

“Privilege?”

“You’ve known him since childhood. He obviously still cares for you. I mean, his sister is your best friend.”

“I suppose you think the only reason our show was picked up was because of Isabella too.” She drops the ice pack into his hand and pushes herself off the floor.

“Capulet! I didn’t mean that! Wait!”

She can hear him trying to get up, but she grabs her phone and her bag and walks out the door.

She’s not mad at him. But sometimes, she just needs a punching bag that knows how to hit back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer, I know absolutely nothing about how behind the scenes of shows work, so everything is most likely inaccurate and mainly for plot drama. Also, the chapter was not my friend, so if anything seems awkward I'm sorry. Thank you so much reading! I hope you enjoy!


	5. Chapter 5

She sends him a fruit basket.

Rosaline isn’t sure how to navigate a situation like this, mainly because all the friends she had been close enough to fight with were family, or Isabella. Those fights worked themselves out when someone decided it was time to stop fighting, and sent a joke though a text before talking it out over ice cream.

And the only other person she ever truly fought with was Benvolio Montague, and that was when they hated each other.

So, she sends a fruit basket to his trailer with an apology and hopes for the best. 

Because she messed up. She knows she did. She was stressed and anxious and she took it out on him, because it was she knew. They fought, they hurt each other with words for so many years, because they could, because it was what was expected of them, because at times, it felt good. She could take her anger with her aunt and uncle out of him, and he would volley, words twice as poisonous, a sharp smile for the camera.

Nothing happens for two weeks. Demonology tapes extra long hours for night shoots, Isabella enlists her as her maid of honor, so she’s wrapped up in wedding plans, and Livia only has certain times when she can call, so her time is limited.

Her shirt, the one she used to wrap up the ice when she punched him, ends up neatly folded on the steps of her trailer, a post it with a sketch of the fruit basket and thank you scribbled across it.

She doesn’t know what to make of it, but she slips it into her cabinet with other important notes and letters, and pushes it to the back of her mind.

Rosaline doesn’t know where she stands with him again, but she hopes it somewhere closer to friend than enemy.

xXx

“What are your plans for Christmas?” Juliet says.

“I wasn’t sure yet.” Rosaline answers, collapsing into her bed.

“You do know it is two weeks, don’t you?”

“No Jules, I thought it was in the summer. Of course I know.”

“Please tell me you bought your ticket home. I don’t want to have to send Dad’s jet to pick you up.”

“I bought my ticket, don’t worry.” Rosaline says. She pulls out her computer to check the time and date again. “I’ll be home the Saturday before. Early enough that we could grab lunch if you want.”

“Yay! You’re coming over, right? We can stay up all night and watch Christmas movies and then wake up way to early like we used to when we were kids.”

“Really?”

“Yes! I want Romeo and I’s first Christmas together to be something magical. But I also want you there, because it’s not Christmas without you or Livia.”

“Wait.” Rosaline sits up. “Livia?”

Juliet curses. “Shit. That was supposed to be a surprise.”

“Jules…”

“Liv is coming! She’s getting two days before you do. You have to act surprised Ros, I mean it!”

Livia had been in Australia for months, working with a new modeling company. It was supposed to be short, but the company decided they wanted to make her a bigger part.

“Of course!”

“So you’re coming right? I’m sending mom and dad on a cruise so we don’t have to deal with that.” Juliet says.

“Yes. Of course. I can’t wait.”

Juliet says something quietly to someone else. “Sorry babe, duty calls. But I can’t wait either. It’s been to long. I’ll call you later!” The phone clicks and Rosaline falls back against the bed, unable to stop herself from smiling. She hasn’t seen Juliet is so long, and Livia in longer. But now, she’s going to see both of them, and spend Christmas with them.

She already has plans to continue working on her house, and sleep until she can’t, and do everything in her power to not think about what happens after winter break. She doesn’t want to think about Escalus or stupid ratings or Benvolio Montague and his stupid perfect face.

They hadn’t spoken since she punched him, and she doesn’t know whether it’s for better or for worse. So instead, she helps Isabella plan her wedding, and pretend she is a normal girl, with a normal job, and normal friends, who can go out to lunch without worrying if someone is going to question where her supposed secret lover is.

xXx

The Montagues apartment is too big to be called an apartment. The ceilings are so high that Rosaline feels like she might fly away.

“Rose!” Juliet screams, and flat out runs across the room to wrap her in a hug. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too.” She squeezes her cousin as tight as she can. Romeo follows up beside her, pulling her into a hug as well.

“She hasn’t stopped talking about seeing you all week. And when your plane was delayed until Christmas eve, she almost lost it.” He teases.

“Oh shut it.” Juliet says, swatting his arm before resting her head against his shoulder.

“Honestly, she would not shut up.” Livia says, walking out from behind the Christmas tree.

“Liv!” Rosaline tackles her sister, almost making both of them fall to the ground.

“Hey sis.” Livia laughs, allowing Rosaline to hug her until she can’t breathe. 

At some point, Romeo wanders off, presumably to set up for the small party Juliet is throwing, so it’s just the three of them, Rosaline, Livia and Juliet, the Capulet girls, cuddled on the couch, sharing stories about the past months and drinking straight from a bottle of wine.

They talk about everything from Juliet’s surprise wedding, to Livia’s secret boyfriend, to Rosaline’s Emmy, and they tease her about Benvolio and they avoid the topic of Juliet’s parents, and Rosaline, for the first time in a while, feels at peace. She doesn’t have to worry about the show for a couple weeks. She doesn’t have to worry about anything she doesn’t want to, and she surrounded by her best friends.

The peace lasts even when Juliet rushes them upstairs, because they have ten minutes until everyone else who is coming over for Christmas eve arrives. It lasts when the house it suddenly crowded, and the music is loud, but Livia sticks by her side, and she sees people she hasn’t in too long a time. She’s almost positive it’s going to last for the entire night.

But then.

She turns, away from the food and back towards the living room, when he walks in. He’s over two hours late, cheeks flushed and hair a mess, and suddenly, Rosaline Capulet is the farthest thing from calm.

She’s always prided herself on being practical.

She was always the designated driver, she was the one who went to college and received her journalism degree, who had plans for everything, even when Juliet tricked her into auditioning for Aquila.

But everything about Benvolio Montague is impractical. From his stupid hair, to his bad boy reputation, to the fact that he once called her a harpy on national television. His impracticality is what made him attractive to the rest of the world.

His impracticality made him the last possible person on earth she should want to still be friends with.

And yet.

“How’s your face?” she asks, sliding up next to him at the bar.

He stiffens for a moment, until he turns to her. He relaxes, and a small smile on his lips.

“Much better. It worked out well. I needed to be in a fight for the scenes we were shooting so the makeup team wasn’t even mad at me.” He takes a sip of his drink. “How are your knuckles?”

“Quite fine.” She holds them out for inspection, and he gently grabs her hand. rubbing him thumb over her skin.

“Make you sure you kiss them next time.”

“What?”

His thumb runs over her knuckles again, and if feels oddly intimate.

“Make sure you kiss your knuckles before you punch me in the face again. Helps soften the blow.”

“You want me to punch you again?” She asks, trying her best to control her breathing. She should not be blushing from him touching her hand.

“I mean if it gets me another fruit basket. The grapes were especially lovely, by the way.” He takes a step closer and his hand squeezes hers.

“Benjamin!” Mercutio crashes into them, forcing them apart. Mercutio turns to her. “Ah, my lovely Rosaline. How are you dear? Keeping my ex out of trouble I hope.” He winks at her as Benvolio pushes him.

“Where’s my cousin?” Benvolio asks, pushing Mercutio further away from the table, sending her a look that from anyone else, Rosaline would interpret to mean I’ll catch you later.

But it isn’t anyone else. It’s Benvolio Montague, the most impractical man in the world.

“It’s all for publicity.” Livia mocks, draping herself over Rosaline’s lap when she finds her a few minutes later.

“What?”

“I swear Liv, I don’t even like him.” Livia pokes Rosaline’s cheek. “These might not give you away, but I know you, and I know your telltale signs of blushing. And girlie, you were full out radiating heat.”

“I’m going to pretend you don’t exist.”

“Oh, playing that game are we now.” Livia says.

“Yes.” Rosaline doesn’t look at her sister, but instead flicks through her phone.

“Don’t lie, you missed me Ros.” Livia teases.

Rosaline glares down at her, but she can’t help bursting into giggles. “Yes. I did.”

xXx

She finds herself on the roof sometime around 2 am. The party is still going strong, and she needs a breather, and the roof of Juliet’s apartment is stunning. The city lays out before them, lights twinkling, just the right breeze running across her skin.

The sound of the door closing alerts her that she is no longer alone, but she can’t be bothered to see who it is.

“Wow.” Benvolio comes up next to her, and rests his arms along the balcony, almost close enough for her to feel him.

“Yeah.” She doesn’t know what else to say.

He bumps her shoulder. “You okay?”

She shrugs instead of answering. She’s passed the point of wanting to talk to anyone. What she really wants is to go to bed, but the music is still playing, and she knows Juliet will make her puppy eyes and she’ll end up staying up until the very last person leaves, so she hid up on the roof. She thinks Benvolio will understand the not wanting to talk aspect, but she doesn’t want to explain it to him, so instead she shrugs and hopes the view will be enough.

“My dad, before he died, used to take me on road trips, when he wasn’t working for the production company, and we would try to find the tallest buildings we could, so we could see different places from the highest point. Now I feel like I’m most comfortable when I can see half the world below me.” He pauses, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “I haven’t talked about my dad in ages.”

She feels his eyes on her, so she turns to him, still not in the mood to talk, but now she feels like that garners a response of some kind.

“Benvolio—“

“I assume you came up here because you didn’t want to deal with people. So like, you don’t have to talk, and you can tell me to shut up. I just know sometimes, I want to be aware from everything, but sometimes it’s nice to not be alone.”

He smiles at her, a full-blown smile that happens only once in a while, a smile that takes her back to the first time they were decent to each other, the first time she almost punched him in the face. Warmth spreads through her, from her face to the tips of her fingers, and she’s filled with the sudden urge to lean forward and kiss him. Instead she leans back to try and see the stars.

“You can keep talking if you like. I don’t mind the company.”

And she’s not looking at him, so she doesn’t see, but she’s almost certain that his smile grows even bigger, and then he’s telling her stories and their laughter fills the night air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! How are you? My motivation disappeared completely, and came back for this fic right in the middle of finals. But, with this motivation came actual ideas! And excitement! And an entire month to write things! So, hopefully, I will be able to have more frequent updates and possibly longer chapters in the new year. So thank you for reading, and for sticking with me through this. You are amazing. Also, I hope you enjoy the entire lyric that the title was stolen from being used in this chapter, because it delighted me when I was able to work it in. :D


	6. Chapter 6

There were few things more iconic than Mercutio Prince’s annual New Year’s Eve Party. In fact, there were few things more iconic than Mercutio Prince.

He grew up in the spotlight, a product of something the tabloids called Princedom, his mother a famous actress, his father cohead of the infamous Principle Networks. He was friends with the Montague’s, another famous family, rarely ever seen without Benvolio or Romeo lurking somewhere close. When he was 16 his parents sent him to boarding school in response to him crashing his 3rd car, and in response, he started a band, toured the world, and bought his first house.

He quickly tired of music, dabbled in acting, until he finally decided to become a part time model, buy a mansion with his inheritance and band money, and settle down with his boating instructor, Antonio.

And somehow, Rosaline had received an invite to his New Year’s party. She had heard the stories about them, seen the tabloids and the pictures, but she never pictured herself at one.

But, here she stands, her second party in less than two weeks, one hand filled with a glass of some fancy drink she can’t pronounce, the other with an even fancier o’doeuvre. The black dress that Livia and Juliette persuaded her to buy sparkles with ever step she takes, catching the various lights around the house.

The house is crowded, but not enough that it makes her uncomfortable, and there’s some people walking around that are famous enough to even leave her a bit star struck, and it might be the fancy drink talking, but maybe Juliet marrying into the Montagues and by extension into Mercutio Prince is not as bad as it first appeared.

Before she knows it, its 10 minutes until the ball drops, and her drink is switched out for champagne, and they are all ushered into the main room where Mercutio and Antonio have set up a screen so they can watch it together. 

She spots Livia, fluttering her eye lashes at someone, and just before she can move toward her, someone catches her arm, and she’s spun, landing right into said someone’s chest.

“Capulet.” Benvolio says, hands stopping on her arms to settle her.

“Montague. Fancy meeting you here.” Even in her heels, she has to look up at him slightly.

He shrugs. “Not like it’s my best mate’s party or anything.” He says, a smirk playing on his lips.

And, it might be the alcohol, or the way the lights hit his eyes, or his arms hands on her skin, or the fact that it’s New Year’s, but she takes a step closer, bringing them almost too close.

“Do you have someone to kiss at midnight?” She asks. It’s absurdly confident, almost incredibly so, and it shocks her.

But instead of bringing him closer to her, his face falls, just a fraction, but enough for her to see.

“Sorry, uh, Stella and I —”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you guys were back together —” She backtracks, stepping out of his arms, out of his space, looking for anywhere else to be.

“No, Capulet, it’s not like that.” He reaches for her, his hand catching on hers before she can escape. “We’re just friends.”

The explanation doesn’t make her feel any better, because they are just friends, and she just asked him to kiss her in a way that was definitely more than just friends. She likes Stella, but something that feels a lot like jealously roots itself in her stomach, and she hates it.

“Forget I ever said anything, I’m quite drunk.”

“Rosaline.”

He says her name like its more than just her name, and it does not help the roller coaster of emotions happening inside her head, so she squeezes his hand and steps away from him, turning away before she can make an even bigger fool of herself.

Rosaline starts for where she last saw Livia, but her conversation with Benvolio took longer than she expected it to. The countdown on the clock is starting, and everywhere she looks, everyone has someone.

Livia is gazing up at the mystery man, and Juliet and Romeo are already wrapped up in each other. Rosaline hates the feelings colliding inside her. Because, she’s surrounded by people she loves and her friends, and she has a great job, and a nice life, and she does not need to be in a relationship to be happy, but there’s a crushing loneliness about seeing everyone with someone, and having no one’s hand to hold.

She blames it on the drinks she’s had, and the fact that 2017 was a bit of a mess, and instead of screaming the countdown, she finds her way to the kitchen, finds a half empty bottle of rum and wanders her way up to the room that Mercutio set aside for her and Livia.

Because if she going to bring in the new year under the same roof as 2 Montagues, a Prince, and a decent size of Hollywood, she’s going to do it absolutely smashed.

xXx

“I present to you, Antonio’s hang over cure.” Mercutio says, collapsing into the seat next to her at the breakfast table.

“Thanks.” Rosaline says back, taking a sip. It almost burns, but she feels a lot better after it goes down. They are the first two up, the sun rising over the hills and just pouring into the window. “And thanks, by the way, for inviting me and Liv to stay.”

“Of course! Once thing 1 and thing 2 got married we basically became family.” He takes a sip of his drink and shudders. “Besides, New Year’s Day brunch is 10 times better than the party.”

Antonio is the next to enter the dining room, eyes bleary and hair almost messier than his boyfriends. He grabs Mercutio’s mug and takes a sip, and then proceeds to nearly spit it on.

“Babe, you forgot the sugar.” He says, whisking away Rosaline’s drink and pouring it down the drain. “This is why I don’t let him cook.” He says to her, rolling his eyes as Mercutio pretends to be offended.

They start to bicker and it brings a smile to Rosaline’s face. She’s heard about Mercutio, the loud, sometimes dangerous Prince cousin, the one who got into just as many fights as Benvolio and would do anything for his friends. But this, quiet, sunny morning Mercutio Prince bickering with his boyfriend over how much sugar is too much sugar, is the real one. It makes her realize she doesn’t really know anyone. It’s not the first time it’s happened, and it makes her realize even more so that her family’s stupid prejudices are just that, stupid and harmful, only getting in the way of letting people make friends.

Romeo stumbles into the room next, sporting two hickeys, causing Mercutio to go off on a tangent of indecency under his roof, that lasts through everyone wandering into the kitchen save Benvolio.

Juliet kisses Romeo right in the middle of Mercutio’s speech, causing him to faint into Antonio’s arms dramatically, almost causing both of them to fall to floor. And Rosaline hasn’t known these people for very long, but she already feels more comfortable around them than she does with some of the people she’s been working with for three years.

They stay there, wrapped around the kitchen table with Mercutio adding more sugar to the hangover cure every time Antonio turns his back, talking about a thousand different things when Benvolio finally finds his way down the stairs.

He’s still in his pajamas, like everyone else, hair sticking in about a thousand different directions, yawning as he comes in.

Rosaline’s entire body flushes, and she stares into her coffee mug so she doesn’t stare at him. He grabs a mug and collapses into the seat directly across from her. She glances up, hoping against all odds he will be looking anywhere else, but he’s staring right at her. His ears burn pink and then he turns to Romeo, making a half assed joke about his hickey.

“Where’s Stella?” Romeo asks in the same teasing tone, causing Benvolio’s ears to turn even more red, and it Rosaline wasn’t dying of embarrassment herself, she would find it cute.

Neither of them were properly drunk enough to forget about last night apparently, and she only slightly wants to die.

“I told you, we’re just friends.” He takes a drink, and makes a face, before he grabs the sugar out of Mercutio’s hand and dumps about another spoonful in.

“Is that why you only kissed her on the cheek last night?” Romeo asks. There’s a scuffle under the table and then Romeo punches Benvolio in the arm, and Juliet quietly gets up and sits between them before pressing a kiss to Romeo’s cheek.

“Let’s not act like children, children.” She says, almost scarily similar to her mother.

Antonio stands abruptly, looking at his watch. “I say, we all go get ready so Mercutio can take his Instagram photos and then we can start brunch.”

They all scramble, all seven of them, and she somehow stumbles right into Benvolio. They stop, the two of them right in the middle of the hall way, his chest nearly touching hers with each breath.

“I didn’t see you last night, but uh, Happy New Year, Capulet.” His hand messed up his hair even more, and the stupid feeling of wanting to kiss him creeps back into her head.

“Happy New Year, Montague.” She doesn’t know what else to say, so they stand there, staring at each other in the middle of the dark hallway.

“My halls are not for flirting!” Mercutio yells from upstairs, echoing throughout the house. It’s enough to drive them apart, to send Rosaline up the stairs and away from Benvolio.

“I don’t care if you are married!”

“Oh please, Merc, I’ve seen your with Antonio hand down—”

“It’s my house Romeo.”

“Oh, would you like you like me to kiss you too.” Juliet says, as Rosaline passes the three of them, hoping her cousin won’t stop her on her way to her room.

“Rose, my dearest, back me up,” Mercutio says as she passes, but she shakes her head, throwing them a smile over her shoulder.

“You have to pick your battles with those two, Mercutio.”

Mercutio throws his hands in the air. “Fine, next time though, it’s going on snapchat.”

Juliet blows him a kiss before he wanders into the next hallway, and she winks at Rosaline before she escapes into her room.

Rosaline collapses onto the bed and throws her hands over her face.

She needs to get Benvolio Montague out of her system and she needs to get him out fast.

xXx

They have brunch on the second-floor terrace, the view of the ocean just visible over the hills. Juliet brands a no work talk rule, forcing them to talk about themselves and things other than what new movie they are auditioning for or what modeling company asked for their name.

Mercutio makes mimosa’s and Antonio brings out French toast and fruit platters, and Rosaline successfully avoids wanting to kiss Benvolio.

Around half way through, she gets a call, so she excuses herself from the table and somehow finds herself in the back courtyard, only an iron gate keeping her inside the property. It’s the back, facing the road, covering in bushes that she assumes would have beautiful flowers in the spring.

Rosaline steels herself up and calls her aunt back. “Hello.”

“Rosaline.” Her aunt was never one for greetings or being nice in any way whatsoever. “Juliet is not at home and she is not answering her phone, what have you done with her?”

Rosaline rests her head on the gate, trying to calm her breathing. It’s something she learned from the yoga classes Livia made her take right after college, saying she let things get to her too much.

“We’re having brunch with friends, she probably forgot her phone in her bag.”

“Forgot? Juliet knows better than to not keep me informed. Especially after what happened in Italy with her disastrous marriage.”

“Aunt Guiliana —”

“Bring her home now, Rosaline.”

“We are 2 hours away.”

“Excuse me?”

Rosaline has not lived with her aunt in nearly 7 years, but her entire body still tenses. She knows that tone. The one that means no dinner and extra chores and being left behind.

“We are two hours away. Juliet is 23 years old, I think she can make decisions for herself. I’ll let her know you are trying to reach her.”

“Rosaline, If you disobey me, I swear —”

Rosaline hits the end button and drops the phone in the pocket of her dress. Her aunt cannot hold anything over her head anymore. She doesn’t live with her. Rosaline paid her own way through college, and now had enough money to help Livia if she needed it.

Her aunt had nothing that could hurt her.

Rosaline texts Livia and Juliet that Guiliana is looking for Juliet, and just lets herself breath, the cool metal of the gate probably leaving an indent on her forehead but at the moment, she cannot bring herself to care.

“Hey.” A hand brushes her shoulder, and this time, she doesn’t even jump because she knows who it is. “I just wanted to check on you. Not that you need checking up on, just Livia and Juliet mentioned something about your aunt and from their faces, I thought, maybe I would just make sure you’re okay, and I’m going to stop talking now.” He pulls his hand away, but she grabs it, spinning around to face him.

“Thank you. Really. I shouldn’t have freaked on you last time you checked on me. It, uh, means a lot.” She drops his hand, not wanting to make things awkward between them again.

“So, you’re okay?”

She shrugs. “My aunt is,” she pauses, trying to find the right word. “A lot. She never really liked the idea of taking Livia and I in after my parents died. And then she hated the idea of us acting even worse, so I tried to steer pretty clear of it, but Juliet persuaded me into auditioning for Aquila, and since then, it’s almost been worse.”

“Ah.” He nods like he understands, and Rosaline realizes, maybe he does.

“What are those?” She asks, indicating to the group of papers in his hands.

“These,” He says, holding a couple out to her, “Are Mercutio’s itinerary for the weekend. I hope you brought your bathing suit, because apparently, Antonio is taking us boating.” He glances behind her, and his eyes harden.

“Hold that thought.” He pauses, like he’s contemplating something, before he turns his gaze back to her. “Do you trust me?”

The question takes her off guard. “What?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” She doesn’t know why she does, but something draws her to him, something makes her know she can trust him.

He takes a step closer to her, and tucks an errant curl behind her ear. “You want to control the narrative, right? Well, we’re going to control it.”

His hand cups her face, and then, his lips fall onto hers, so soft that it’s barely a kiss.

A camera clicks behind her, and Benvolio’s eyes search hers, and then she pushes herself on her toes and wraps her hands around his neck so she can kiss him again. His arm slides around her waist, tugging her closer, and Rosaline knows this is because there are paparazzi just beyond the gate, and that Benvolio has a plan, but she’s going to pretend that this is for real.

Because if she does, make she can get him out of her system.

His tongue slips against the seam of her lips, and she gasps, only causing his to kiss her harder. When she pulls back he’s breathing hard, and his lips are bright, bright red, and Rosaline knows she screwed.

She’s never going to be able to get a freshly kissed Benvolio Montague out of her head.

He smiles at her, before grabbing her hand and pulling her back in the house, away from the prying eyes of the camera.

“What was that?” She asks, breathless, as soon as the door closes.

“We get to control it. It looks like I have a script in my hand. We can say it was practice for the crossover. Positive publicity.” He glances at her. “Was that okay?”

Rosaline nods, not really able to make coherent thoughts.

“Cool. You might want to call your agent though. Give her a heads up. And, I should probably tell my showrunner that we need to kiss on the crossover. That’ll make his majesty happy.” He winks at her.

Rosaline can’t do much else but smile, and then he’s walking down the hallway, punching numbers into his phone.

Once he’s out of sight, Rosaline slides down the wall, unable to fully process whatever just happened. Benvolio freaking Montague just gave her the best kiss of her life, and she doesn’t know what to do with herself.

xXx

_@Rosalinecap_ tweeted: Getting to make out with decently attractive people is just a perk of the job I guess

 _@Benmontague_ replied: *People Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year, two years in a row

 _@Rosalinecap_ replied: Does that make you feel better about yourself?

 _@BenMontague_ replied: it does, actually

 _@Rosalinecap_ replied: Addendum – getting to make out with only somewhat attractive people is the worst part of being an actress.

 _@Benmontague_ replied: rude

 _@Kingmerc_ replied: Holy Shit

 _@Kingmerc_ replied: WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT FLIRTING IN MY HOUSE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter accidentally became a love letter to Mercutio because I love him, but i hope you all liked the ending ;) Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

His hair is shorter.

Ella rubs the cloth gently over Drew’s face, and he closes his eyes, leaning into her hands. He’s subtle about it though, something Rosaline has noticed from watching three seasons of Vigilante in as many weeks.

Benvolio is good at playing Drew. He makes the tortured but kind-hearted soul trope work in such a way that makes you want to give him a hug, even after he just put 10 guys in the hospital singlehandedly.

It’s still awkward for her, watching people she knows on TV or in movies, but watching Benvolio is different. She’s watching it for research, to understand the dynamics of the characters, to see how her cast will fit in, but is also is making her realize how much the stupid kiss affected her.

Sometimes, Drew will look at Ella, and Rosaline’s cheeks will flush because he once looked at her like that. And she hates it. She hates it because less than 6 months ago, she hated him, and in less than a week she will have to be acting with him, and nothing is worse than being attracted to the person you are supposed to be acted attracted too. Because kissing them multiple times for the right shot will feel like something it shouldn’t, and the last thing she needs is for him to know that she wouldn’t mind kissing him outside of work.

It’s been three weeks since the kiss. Two weeks since she had three interviews, all of which she had to play dumb and say the kiss was just for a secret project. One week since the news of the cross over broke. And she has a week and half until first read throughs for the crossover taping to start.

On the screen, Ella turns her back to Drew and his hand twitches, just slightly in her direction. It’s another one of those subtle movements, ones that make the longing between the two of them that much better. It also makes the fact that Aquilla is going to kiss Drew that much worse. Because Rosaline knows what fans are like. Isabella and Helena had become the main Demonology relationship after Aquilla’s love interest had turned out to be a bad guy that she had to kill, and every time there is a slight problem between the two, the fans go just slightly crazy.

And from what she’s watched of Vigilante so far, Drew and Ella are a ship for the ages, having shared a single kiss in season 2, only for her to be kidnapped and Drew to say that she’s his weakness. But they never stopped looking at each other like they meant the world to each other. Rosaline knows they also kissed at the beginning of season 5, a mistake that they never spoke about, so her character coming in is most likely only going to cause problems.

Someone knocks on the door. It’s late, and she isn’t expecting anyone, so when she opens the door to find Benvolio Montague with a bag of take out, she doesn’t really know how to react. Especially since he can most definitely see his face paused on her TV from where he is standing.

“Hi?” She says.

Benvolio smiles and hold up the bag in his hand. “I have take out.”

“I see that.”

“Umm.” She can see the confidence slip from his face. “I probably should have texted you first.”

She doesn’t answer him, mainly because she’s trying to stand in such a way that blocks him from the TV, but also because she’s not exactly sure what she’s supposed to say.

“You probably already ate dinner.” He says, ears tinging pink.

Before she can answer him, her stomach growls, answering his question. She opens the door wider to let him in, and relief floods his face as she does.

She leads him to the kitchen and starts to grab some plates, and if he’s noticed the TV, he’s being very polite.

“It’s for research!” She blurts out, as he starts to pull the food out of the bags.

“What?”

“Your face.” She says gesturing toward the TV, too embarrassed to look him in the eyes.

“That’s a good episode.” He turns back toward her, and opens one of the cartons. “I’m only on season two of Demonology, so I think you’re doing better in your research than I am.” He flashes her a grin before grabs the plates and taking the rest of the food with him toward the couch. “If you want I could be the commentary, tell you what I was thinking during these scenes…” He presses play on the remote, and cringes.

“We don’t have too…”

“Who let me get that haircut?”

She laughs at him, and he proceeds to narrate most of the episode, talking about how many times he nearly fell off the roof, and how much he hates his hair, until the episode is over and Rosaline grabs the remote before they can start the next one.

“So, tell me, you didn’t just come here because you didn’t want to eat alone.” She says, grabbing one of the last take out boxes.

“I mean…”

“Ben.”

“Okay, no. So, Stella started this thing where you go out to eat with the person who you’re going to making out with, you know, to make it less awkward. Typically, I take my future romantic partner to a nice restaurant, but seeing as the gossip mags already have enough on us, I thought take out would be better. And Livia mentioned you loved Thai food, so,” He shrugs and takes another bite of his food.

“Hmm.”

“Yeah. You know, make it tad less awkward when we’re making out without out clothes on for like 2 hours.”

“Who said anything about no clothes?” Rosaline says, glad he can’t see her blush.

“Trust me, if we’re playing this for views, as our mighty leader says we are, I will most definitely be shirtless at some point. Probably while I’m with you.” He’s not exactly looking at her, but something about his voice is off, and she tries her best to brush it off.

“Well. That sounds fun.” She sinks further into the couch and does not let the way his ears burn pink affect her in the slightest.

“Alright Capulet,” Benvolio says, letting himself sink into the couch much like she has. “Tell me a something I don’t know about you.” He flashes her his signature smirk, and she wants to punch him, but instead she crosses her arms.

“You first, Montague.”

“Alright.” He thinks for a moment. “I wanted to be animator instead of an actor.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I was in school for it and everything until Romeo decided to do movies instead of TV and my wonderful Uncle decided I had to be the one to carry on the Montague legacy in TV.” He pulls out his phone and keeps talking. “You see, my dad and my uncle were both TV actors before they started their own production company, and my uncle thought it would be ridiculous to not have a TV actor in the next generation, so, here we are.” He passes her his phone. “These were some of my first characters. You’re turn, Capulet.”

She flicks through his phone, the little characters better than she thought they would be.

“I was going to be journalist. Went to college and got my degree. And then, one of my friends needs to do a project for her film class, and we created a silly Youtube channel about these four girls who were on a road trip during the zombie apocalypse. And Juliet saw it, showed her manager, and then forced me to audition for Demonology, and the rest is history.” She passes him back his phone, and shrugs.

“I already knew that.”

“What?”

“You’re Youtube show. Watched it and everything. We used to be enemies, remember, I needed info on you.”

“Did you know I studied journalism?”

He pauses and shakes his head. “Fine you win that one.” He smiles at her, and then, starts telling her about his first and only animated project, and before Rosaline knows it, it’s way past midnight, and her legs are draped across his lap, and she’s telling him about the road trip she took with Livia and Juliet when they were in high school.

And then she’s telling him he can stay over, and showing him to the guest room, and he gently grabs her arm just before she turns away.

“Thanks for letting me in tonight, Capulet.” He says, voice soft. He’s close enough that she could lean into him without any effort at all.

“Thanks for dinner, Montague.” She could kiss him if she wanted, he’s standing so close. All she would have to do is stand on her tip toes and press her lips against his. It would be easy. It would be nice. It would be —

He takes a step back, and the moment is gone, and Rosaline wishes him a goodnight and then all but runs back to her room.

She has a week until they start taping. She needs to get herself together.

xXx

“Why are we recording this again?” Rosaline says as she comes up from her stretch, eyes trained on the camera and corresponding camera man on the other side of the gym.

Puck, her favorite fight choreographer shrugs, and starts another stretch. “Orders from the big man. Apparently, it will make great extras for the DVDs.”

“And why are they here?” Benvolio asks, pointing toward the other corner of the gym where Isabella, Helena, Stella, and a handful of other cast members are attempting to yoga, but their eyes are glued to Rosaline and Benvolio.

Helena waves, and Isabella elbows her, pulling her back into their fake yoga.

Puck laughs. “I think they are here to be background characters for said video. Alright you guys ready?”

Rosaline nods, and someone passes her staff. Benvolio gets his own, and it feels like the first time they were civil to each other again.

“So, the plan, according to the script is a training session in Drew’s headquarters. You guys exchange witty banter, Rosaline all but kicks his ass, and then you switch to a hand to hand style. Ros steps up on an undetermined prop, leaps at Ben, causing him to catch you, slow motion lowering down, and…” Puck claps his hands together, causing the yoga group to jump. “The magic happens.”

Benvolio mouth magic and gives her smug look. She responds by knocking him on his ass.

“Not yet, you two, I’m still planning it out.” Puck says, eyes closed and imagining the scene.

Benvolio kicks himself back up and attempts to fall into first position, but it’s a been a few months since their training session, and his footwork is all wrong.

“Like this, Montague.” She says, falling into first position herself. Benvolio rights himself, and then his infuriating smirk it back, and that’s all it takes.

Rosaline lunges, and then they are a blur of motion, staffs colliding, twisting, turning, the camera man jumping to start his camera, Puck opening a single eye to watch the events unfolding.

He’s gotten better than the last time they fought, but his movements are still too loose, loose enough that she is able to get a number of good hits in before he drops the staff and holds out his hands, the infuriating smile still on his face.

“Come on, Capulet. Is that all you got?” He challenges. Rosaline tosses her staff to Isabella who stood up in the midst of their chaos, careful not get stepped on.

“Technically speaking, that was perfectly blocked out.” Puck says, but Rosaline disregards him for the time being.

“You’ve gotten better.” Rosaline says, attempting to both flatter him and distract him, and it works. His stance relaxes just slightly.

“Thanks. I made Romeo practice with me on brea—“

Rosaline surges forward, her hand connecting with his. His face turns from flattered to impressed, and he lets her dance back, repositioning himself so he’s more prepared.

“Right hook.” Puck says, staring at them.

“What?” Rosaline almost turns to him when she sees Benvolio move, coming toward her with a right hook.

“Block!” Puck yells, and she does, and then Puck is spouting instructions, and getting someone to write it down, and the yoga group is transfixed, cheering and giving feedback to what they like.

“Someone grab a stool, or a box or something for us please.” Puck says after a few minutes of them circling each other. “Rose, dearest.” Puck says, gesturing toward the box. “We’ll figure out how you step on it later, but, you need to jump toward him. Hold on.” He grabs one of the soft edge knifes from the wall of weapons and hands it to her.

“Like you going to stab him. Ben, the plan is to catch her.”

“Okay.”

They’re close to each other, and it’s not that far off the ground, but she’s fallen on the gym floor before, so she knows it hurts like a bitch.

Puck yells action, and Rosaline forces her head back into the scene, and she jumps, knife positioned, and it’s seamless.

Her legs fall around his waist and his hand warp around her, preventing her from falling on the floor. And it works, almost exactly like it’s written in the script, him lowering her down slowly, until their faces are almost level.

Vaguely, Rosaline can hear the rest of the room cheering, but she’s too close to Benvolio for any of her senses to be working properly. She still has the fake knife poised over his heart, and she registers that it will make quiet a lovely scene, but Benvolio just glanced at her lips and it’s kind of hard to process anything else.

“That went much better than expected.” Puck says, breaking the moment. Benvolio lets her legs fall to the floor, and Rosaline takes a few steps away from him, eyes firmly trained on the floor. She lets herself fall into a stretch, and listens to Puck talk about how they have to block out the staff fighting section, but she stays on the floor, folding her legs and reaching for her toes and breathing.

She knows the key to keeping her cool is breathing, so she stretches and she breathes, and she practices. They work for two more hours, Benvolio only dropping her twice. By the time they are done they are the only three people in the room, the yoga group leaving for taping and the camera man saying he has enough footage.

When Puck finally calls cut and leaves so he can show the director what they have, Rosaline collapses to the floor, drenched in sweat, already feeling the sore muscles she’s going to be nursing in the morning.

She hears Benvolio drop down next to her and she swings her head so she can look at him.

“Sorry I dropped you.” He says, passing her a bottle of water.

“Bound to happen.”

They have a few more days of shooting other scenes before they shoot the fight/kiss scene, so they have time to practice.

“Come on, Montague.” She says, pushing herself up off the floor. She holds out a hand to him so she can help him up. “I heard a rumor that it’s mac and cheese day, and you know how much I love my mac and cheese.”

xXx

“I’m so sorry.” Isabella says as she wanders into the makeup trailer. Rosaline catches her eyes through the mirror, careful to not move her face too much.

“About?”

Isabella looks like she’s about to cry from worry, and Rosaline doesn’t know what to do. “Esc wanted to see the script, and I didn’t think much of it because sometimes he helps me practice my lines, but then he asked for the shooting schedule, and again, I didn’t think much of it, because I thought he might surprise me and take me to lunch, but Rose, he’s here. Today.” Isabella collapses into the seat next to her.

“Oh dear.” Cordelia says, finishing her makeup.

“I don’t get why it’s such a big deal.” Rosaline says.

Isabella and Cordelia share a look.

“Rosaline, you’re taping the kiss today, aren’t you?” Isabella says.

Rosaline sighs, and slumps in her chair. “Yep.”

“And my brother, your ex-boyfriend and the person who orchestrated this whole thing is going to be watching the entire thing. If it doesn’t at least make you uncomfortable, it definitely will make Ben. My brother already has his problems with him, and you know he tends to be jealous.”

“You’re forgetting Izzy, he broke up with me.”

“That doesn’t mean he stopped having feelings for you.”

Rosaline ponders the statement for a minute, but pushes it out of her head. If Escalus has a problem with her kissing Benvolio, he shouldn’t have based the crossover on their ‘chemistry’ in the first place.

“It’s going to be fine, Iz, I promise you.”

xXx

He drops her.

Her knees collide with the floor, and her entire body quakes on impact. Multiple hands reach out for her and help her up, and she can hear Benvolio apologizing. 

She says she’s fine and tries to shake everyone one off, but someone’s hands are still on her arm.

“Are you okay Rosaline?” There’s concern written all over Escalus’s face. He’s close, so only she can hear him, and her heart almost snaps.

“I’m fine, thank you.” She steps out of his grip and walks back to her starting point, ignoring the several pairs of eyes she can feel burning in her back.

They do the scene over and over and over again, but something feels off. Benvolio feels far away, during the fight, when he catches her, and especially when he kisses her. He’s cold, the ease that they had accomplished in practice is gone, and the director can feel it.

The 7th time they attempt the shot and everyone’s unhappy with it, Rosaline asks if they can take a break. The director, Miranda, grants it to her, an Rosaline grabs Benvolio before anyone else can get to them and marches them into the hall.

“What the hell, Montague?” She asks, pulling him into one of the service closets so they won’t be disturbed.

“What?” He’s tense. His whole body is as tense as when they were training, and she can feel it.

“We had this down, what happened?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Capulet.” He says.

“Is it Escalus?”

Benvolio rolls his eyes. “No, it’s not Prince.” He tries to laugh it off, but Rosaline can see past him.

“Ben.” She takes a step closer to him. “Is it the kiss?”

“Please, Capulet —“

“Kiss me.”

He freezes, his eyes drawn to her lips. “What?”

“It’s the only thing we didn’t practice. Just kiss me like you did on New Year’s.” It’s dangerous, she realizes, asking him to kiss her in a closet off set, but she’s kissed him 7 times today, and each time she felt like she was kissing a wall. And if she needs to do this so he’ll shake the fact that Escalus is watching them off, then so be it.

“Ros, I don’t think…”

She presses her lips to his, shutting him up. It takes him a moment to process, but then his hand wraps around her waist and he tugs her closer. He falls against the door and she slides her hands into his hair and this is the kiss the director is looking for. This is the kiss she’s looking for.

She pulls back, out of breath and falls back on her feet. “That’s what I’m talking about. Pretend it’s just us. Block everyone else out. Okay?”

Benvolio nods, slightly dumbstruck, and she leads him back to the set, and grabs her staff.

“We’re ready now.” She announces, and everyone falls back into position. The scene starts, and she can already feel it going better. She even sees a smile on Miranda’s face.

This time, when he kisses her, it feels almost real. He carries her to the control table, and then she takes off his shirt, and she knows there are at least three cameras on them and 20 other people in the room, but Rosaline lets herself get just slightly lost in the kiss.

Miranda calls cut, and Ben pulls away, holding out a hand so she can get off the control table.

“That’s our shot.” Miranda says, and someone cheers, and Rosaline is whisked away to costuming before she can even give Benvolio a smile, but they did it. They did it, and she only fell slightly in love with him in the process.

xXx

He finds his way to her trailer later than night.

And she lets him in, against her better judgement.

“Do you want some tea?”

“No, thank you,” Escalus says, settling into one of the chairs. “I wanted to see how you were. We didn’t end on good terms last time.”

She almost rolls her eyes but stops herself before she does. “You tend to always leave on bad terms, don’t you?” She says, but she smiles, hoping she won’t start an argument.

“So, how have you been?” He asks, fiddling with one of the buttons on his shirt.

“Fine. And you?”

“Good. Good. The channel is doing quite well.”

“Why are you here, Escalus?” She asks, after a moment of awkward silence.

“I was wondering if I could take you to dinner. For old times sake.” He asks, his eyes finding hers. She fell in love with those eyes. A tiny part of her wants to, knowing that he’ll probably ask for forgivness, and try to kiss her at the end of the night, but the other part of her is still caught up with earlier in the day.

“Old times sake?” She pours herself a cup of tea and settles into the seat across from him.

“I made a mistake. I made a mistake when I broke up with you, and when I forced you to this stupid cross over—“

“Worked out quite well, though, I think. I heard that both out shows had a slight increase in viewership since the announcement.” She interrupts him, not really in the mood to rehash old arguments or old feelings.

“It still feels like a mistake.” He whispers, more into the table than toward her.

It’s quiet for another moment, and Rosaline is contemplating actually going to dinner with him, but her trailer door opens, and Escalus stands so abruptly he almost knocks over a chair.

Benvolio stands there, staring at the two of them. “I was just coming to see if you wanted to go and get dinner, but…”

Escalus stares at him, and for a second, Rosaline thinks she can see the tension in the room.

“I was just leaving.” Escalus says, and he nods at Rosaline, before pushing past Benvolio and out of her trailer.

“Don’t leave on my account.” Benvolio says as he passes, but Escalus still leaves, and Rosaline is left with Benvolio. “Stella, Isabella, Helena, and a bunch of us are going to get dinner, if you want to come.” Benvolio says once the door shuts again.

“Yeah. That sounds great.”

Benvolio smiles, and he turns to leave, but he stops.

“Thanks, for today. You know, I was letting things get to me, and uh, you knew how to get me back.”

“No problem.” And, she’s still trying to figure out Escalus, but Benvolio makes her heart skip a beat. “I’ll meet you guys outside in like 10?”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re meeting by Stella’s trailer.”

The door shuts behind him and Rosaline is stuck with her stupid heart. She grabs her phone and texts Juliet and Livia, and hopes she can get through the rest of the crossover without losing her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

“Welcome to Rosaline Capulet’s first ever Instagram video!” Juliet squeals, and there like 500 things going on at the bottom of the screen.

Rosaline swings the phone around, assessing the state of Isabelle and Helena’s apartment, filled to the brim with actors and directors and writers from both shows. Vigilante’s episode of the crossover is premiering, and someone had the bright idea to have a live watch along with the west coast. There were at least 5 different live videos going on and someone was setting up the TV, and Rosaline has this pocket of warmth in her chest that’s making nearly impossible not the smile.

And despite all the protests she made against this project in the first place, she’s beyond happy it happened.

Juliet grabs her phone and turns the camera onto her. “Tell the lovely people who you are.”

“Jules…” She reaches for her phone, but Juliet dances out of the way.

“Introduce yourself.”

Rosaline rolls her eyes. “I’m Rosaline, and I play Aquilla.”

“Perfect.” Juliet kisses her cheek and hands her phone back, before grabbing Stella as she walks past. “Introduce yourself!” She says, before disappearing into the crowd.

“I’m Stella Lowe, and I play Ella on Vigilante.” She winks, and blows a kiss, and the hearts at the bottom of the screen explode again.

Rosaline is too busy glancing at the questions, so she doesn’t notice when Stella grabs Benvolio and pulls him in front of her phone, but when she glances up, Stella is gone and Benvolio is taking a sip of his drink, but there’s mischief in his eyes, and it almost makes her stomach flip.

It’s been three months since they taped the crossover, and she still can’t get there kiss out of her head. She’s been able to force her attraction to him into a dull hum at the back of her head, but there’s times, like now, when she’s caught off guard, and her entire body flushes just thinking about him.

“Introduce yourself!” She says, because she can’t really think of anything else to say at the current moment.

“I’m Ben.” His voice is almost liquid smooth, and she can see the screaming in the comments.

“Who do you play?”

He bites back a smile, but the mischief is still in his eyes. “I’m the love interest.”

His eyes catch hers over the phone, and Rosaline nearly drops the fucking thing. Her heart skips a beat, and Benvolio is still staring her down, and the mischief in his eyes is melting into something more primal, and Rosaline does not know how much longer she can last.

Mercutio walks by at that exact moment, and punches Benvolio’s arm. “Stop teasing the fans, Benjamin.”

Benvolio grabs for Mercutio but he dances away too fast. And then, there is no one in front of her camera, and Rosaline takes a trip around the room, pointing out various people, and answering some of the questions she sees dance across her screen.

“Okay,” she says, flipping the camera back on herself. “I’m going to go, but a lot of us will be on twitter answering questions and live tweeting, so I’ll catch you over there! I can’t wait for you guys to see these two episodes, I promise they are going to be great!” She signs off, and falls back onto the couch, suddenly exhausted.

Everyone is falling into their seats, and snacks are being passed around, and Rosaline is ready to see how the episode turned out.

There’s a bit of a commotion next to her, and she opens her eyes, only to find Benvolio sitting next to her, with a large bowl of grapes.

“Capulet.” He says, popping a grape in his mouth.

“Where’s the popcorn?” She asks, grabbing herself a handful of grapes.

“Popcorn is for people who don’t have a full day of shirtless scenes tomorrow.”

“Ah. I see.”

She’s trying to think of something else to say, when someone tells someone else to shut up, and then the lights are lowered, and Helena’s face appears on the screen.

She was link between the two episodes. In the last episode of Demonology, Helena’s characters, Amanda, mentioned something about following a lead on an article she was in the middle of, leading her across country into Vigilante territory.

Which eventually led to her finding one of the big bad demons on the season, which led to Aquilla and Shade and the rest of the demonology team rushing across country, and eventually butting heads with the Vigilante squad.

They make it through the episode, a giant smile on Rosaline’s face nearly the entire time. From the tweets she had been reading, a lot of the fans seemed to like it. People started to move around, but before Rosaline can stand, Benvolio grabs her hand.

“You can’t leave before the previews, Capulet.” He tugs her back down, and tells everyone to shut up, so they can see the trailer for tomorrow’s episode of Demonology.

It’s a decent trailer, with good music and pacing, but in the last few second, they flash a grouping of scenes, and her cheeks flush, Benvolio’s hand squeezing hers. The last flash is them, Benvolio’s mouth trailing down her neck, and the stupid dull throb of her attraction to him surges, enough to make her suddenly realize just how close they are sitting. Their legs are presses together, and her hand is still clasped in his, resting on her leg.

“You’re coming to the party tomorrow right?” He asks, once he lets go of her hand.

“Yeah.” She grabs her phone, just so she has something else to focus on besides him.

He flashes her a smile, one that does not help her stupid emotions at all.

She glances down at her phone, and the speculation is running out of control, and there’s at least three entertainment sites claiming making new rumors.

The couch jostles again. “You know, babe, you’re lucky that you are very hard to read if someone hasn’t known you for over a decade.” Isabella says, passing her a drink. “Because honestly, I can tell what you’re thinking from across the room.”

“Shut up.” Rosaline says, still refusing to look up from her phone.

Isabella leans over her shoulder. “Is this the kiss heard around the world? Trailer for the second episode in the long awaited Demonology/ Vigilante crossover shows a possible kiss between Drew and Aquilla!” Isabella laughs. “Oh, babe I honestly cannot wait for the response to tomorrow.”

“Bella.” Rosaline whines.

“Rosie.” She kisses her cheek and sighs. “You should tell him.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Mhmm. And I am currently not engaged.”

Rosaline drops her phone and throws her head back against the couch. “I don’t know why I am friends with you.”

“It’s because you love me.”

xXx

“So how long ago did it happened?” Aquilla asks, circling Drew in the Vigilante headquarters. They had split up for this episode, with Drew and Aquilla staying in Vigilante territory and the others going back to Demon central.

“What? This whole hero business?” Drew says.

“No, you and Ella.”

His foot slips.

Rosaline is still impressed by his micro expressions, even though she was there when he planned them out. She glances around the room, and everyone is glued to the screen, hands poised over their phones for the live tweet.

“Nothing happened.”

Aquilla rolls her eyes and takes a step toward him.

“You can fool me, rich boy.”

This time it’s Drew who rolls his eyes. “It was a long time ago. She has a boyfriend now. And we’re friends.”

“Hmm. And feelings magically disappear once someone is in a relationship.” Aquilla reaches for her staff, and twirls it in her hand, something Rosaline had just done on instinct. She’s glad they kept it in.

“Why are we talking about this again?”

“Because I am bored, and we have no information about the case, and I have no information about you.”

“What about you then?” Drew says. He fumbles with the staff for a moment, before Aquilla stands in first position and he follows.

“My ex is currently in the bottom of a grave because he turned out to be a demon. So, I am not pining after anyone currently.” The music changes tempo, and Aquilla dances forward.

“I’m not pining after Ella!”

One swift move, and she knocks him on his ass. And then, it starts. They are a flurry of motion and movement, until Drew’s staff breaks in half. They toss them to the side, and then it’s hand to hand, and short pauses of their faces too close together, and Rosaline can feel Benvolio’s arm pressed against hers, this time with a bowl of popcorn balanced on both their laps, and for some reason, she feels like she needs to hold her breath.

“Are you sure about that?” Aquilla asks, as she twists out of his grasp.

“Yes. Why do you even care so much?”

Aquilla dances on top of one of the crates, and the knife flashes in her hand. It’s quite beautiful how it turned out, the music and the camera adding a perfect amount of tension.

“Because,” She jumps, and the music swells, and it’s perfect. Benvolio’s hand brushes over hers and Rosaline actually might forget how to breathe.

“I don’t like being a second choice.”

“Anyone who thinks of you as a second choice, obviously hasn’t met you.”

They stare at each other for just a moment, and then, they kiss, and Rosaline hears someone in the room cheer.

She has to look away once they scene actually starts, because her entire body is on fire, and she can basically can feel Isabella’s eye burning into her back.

Her twitter timeline is blowing up, and there is a lot of screaming, and people saying they ship it, and –

_@BenMontague_ tagged you.

Benvolio is smiling down at his phone his ears slightly pink.

_@BenMontague_ tweeted: Still the worst part of your job, Capulet?

Rosaline rolls her eyes.

_@RosalineCap_ replied: I still have bruises from when you dropped me.

Benvolio turns to her, but he’s smiling. But before they can say anything, Juliet leaps over the couch between them, brandishing her phone.

“You guys are only fueling the rumors you know. Not that I am complaining, because it’s great, but…”

Romeo then falls in the pace between Benvolio and Juliet, and more people swarm the couch, for the commercial, and suddenly, both Benvolio and her bowl of popcorn are serval feet away. The commercials end, and then people are telling everyone to shut up, and they are back with the other group of demon/bad guy hunters, and her phone is still buzzing million miles a minute, and her entire body still flushed from the thought of kissing Benvolio.

She still has a nice pocket of warmth in her chest, and at some point, Benvolio texts her some of the tweets on his timeline with a winky face emoji, and for a few blissful hours everything feels like it’s going to be okay.

xXx

They are fighting again.

Times moves weirdly during busy time of taping, and before she knows it, it’s the beginning of May, and she somehow gets invited to the Met Gala with Benvolio Montague, and they are fighting again. Because she refuses to let him where a just a black suit and tie.

“It’s just a red carpet Capulet.” He sounds far away over the phone, and if it wasn’t 2 hours before the actual event, and she wasn’t currently getting makeup, she would drive over to his hotel and kick his ass.

“It’s so much more! There’s a theme, and you want to stand out. Don’t you want the internet to be happy with you instead of being on the Met Gala’s worst dressed list.”

The makeup artist snorts, and Rosaline smiles. “Everyone here is laughing at you and disappointed in you.”

“You’re lying to make me feel bad.”

“I honestly can’t believe you are my date to the Met Gala and you are not adhering to the theme. It’s like you want to ensure that we will never be invited back.”

She can here Benvolio laughing. “Ros, why would what I wear have anything to do with your invitation?”

“We were invited together! Anna Wintour obviously thinks we’re dating, so she and everyone else is going to think I agreed to you disobeying the theme —”

“Ros. Rosaline, my fake beloved. I’m teasing you.”

“What?”

“My best friend is Mercutio fricken Prince, do you really think he would let me go the Met Gala in a suit that doesn’t match the theme. Maybe the one who should be worried is you.”

Rosaline gasps. “I match the theme quite nicely if I do say so myself.”

“Good then. Be prepared to be the best looking fake couple at the Met Gala 2018 then, Miss. Capulet.”

“I’ll see you in an hour.”

“I’ll be counting the seconds.”

The phone call ends and Rosaline sighs, falling back against the makeup chair, as the girl brushes another sweep of blush along her cheeks.

“So you’re really not together?” The makeup girl asks.

Rosaline opens her eyes once it’s safe to.

“Hmm?”

“You and Benvolio Montague. Everyone thought because you had been invited together that maybe the rumors were true.” She pauses, dusting some highlighter over Rosaline’s cheek bones, before looking a little sheepish. “Not that I mean to intrude, I’m sor —”

“It’s fine. Really. I was surprised when we were invited together too, but I guess people liked how we looked on the red carpet back at the Emmy’s so...” Rosaline shrugs. “But no. Benvolio Montague and I are only friends.”

The girl smiles at her and turns around to grab the lipstick, and Rosaline takes a moment to collect herself. Somehow, it keeps getting harder and harder for her to keep thinking of the Montague as a friend.

xXx

He’s blue. And red. And yellow. And gold. There’s so much gold. He’s in a pale blue suit, similar to the color the Virgin Mary often was painted in, a light red shirt, and a yellow sash, connecting to a jewel encrusted cape.

A jewel encrusted cape that almost exactly matches her dress.

There’s a brush of gold of her cheek bones, and it’s all pulled together with a rather simple gold cross on a chain.

He peels off his sunglasses as she steps out of the hotel, and for a second, Rosaline feels like a goddamn princess.

Her dress looks like it is made out of a stained-glass window. Various scenes are depicted over the fabric, and when she spins, the light catches the thousands of hand sewn Swarovski diamonds, making her sparkle. It’s the prettiest dress she’s ever worn, and she still cannot believe she was choose by the designer to wear it.

The entire look is topped off with diamonds in her hair, and a crown, made from actual stained glass.

Benvolio turns to her as she walks out, and she swears, for a moment he goes slack jawed.

“You didn’t have to tease me.” She says when they finally reach other, his hand out to help her into the car.

“Oh, but where is the fun in that, Capulet.”

The ride over is quite but it is comfortable, and Rosaline still can’t believe that she somehow was invited to the Met Gala.

She also can’t believe that she is going with Benvolio Montague. But, there’s something comforting knowing that he is going to be next to her. He already knows how she is with crowds. He knows how to hold her hand, and keep her steady. And she has a million different things going on in her head right now, but the constant is him. There’s layers over fabric between them, but she can still feel him pressed against her side, smiling at something Mercutio texted him.

And he looks at her, with just enough of _something_ in his eyes to make her heart flutter a little faster.

“You have an eye lash.” He whispers, just as the car pulls up to the line.

“Hmm?”

He reaches out and gently brushes at her nose. “Eyelash.” He holds it out to her. “Make a wish.”

She already knows exactly what her wish is going to be, but she pretends to contemplate it.

“Okay.” She grabs his hand to steady it, and blows, closing her eyes for good measure.

When she opens them, he’s staring at her, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Ben —”

The door opens, and the last light of the day pours in, followed by a flash of cameras. And then, someone is helping her out of the car, and before she can even begin to panic, Benvolio is next to her and placing his hand on the small of her back, his thumb just barely brushing over her exposed skin.

She falls into auto pilot, smiling at the cameras, posing just the right way, making sure to spin at least three times so the cameras can catch the way she sparkles. 

Benvolio does the same, minus the spinning, and makes sure he is always close enough so she can see him.

There’s a magic about the air. Rosaline feels like she can do anything. Her heart pounds, and her mind twirls as she spins again, and this time, she spins right into Benvolio.

And he’s there to catch her, and he’s smiling at her, and she feels like she’s glowing.

She wants to kiss him. Every single molecule in her body wants to reach up and kiss him, but there are cameras and news reporters, and too many people for her to do something that brash, so she tucks it away, but lets it fill her with warmth. She can kiss him later, when they are alone, without all the prying cameras and gossip sights.

She can kiss him, and then tell him how she’s kind of, sort of been falling in love with him for the past few months.

She keeps it hidden when he kisses her temple for one of their last photos before they enter the museum, because she can use that later to kiss him for real.

She keeps it hidden when he checks his phone really quickly before they officially head inside, keeps it hidden when he seems to deflate before he tucks his phone back into his pocket

She especially keeps it hidden when they finally are alone, just before they head to an after party, when she can tell something is bothering him but doesn’t know how to breach the subject.

The pocket of warmth in her chest grows colder and colder as the night goes on, and Benvolio’s hand slips out of hers, and he moves further away, as he all but disappears before he takes her home.

There’s still magic in the air, and she still sparkles when she walks, but it’s like someone flipped a light switch.

She doesn’t kiss him. She doesn’t tell him how she feels. She doesn’t let herself get too upset when she can’t find him at the after party when she asked him earlier if he would dance with her.

Instead, she makes some new friends, she drinks champagne, and tries her best to push her feelings about Benvolio Montague back where they belong, hidden and quiet in the back of her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. How are you. I am so so so sorry this chapter took so long. I lost motivation, and inspiration, not only for this but for writing in general. But, the Met Gala showed up, and I instantly remembered that I made this a Celebrity AU and I could send them to the Met Gala, and I was finally able to finish this chapter. It was originally supposed to have even more angst, but I had a bad day and wanted to make this a little happy. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for reading. I hope this chapter was worth the wait.


	9. Chapter 9

There are two weeks left of taping, two weeks left until Rosaline can go back to California, work on her house, sleep as blissfully late as she wants. Two weeks until she’ll be in the same state as Livia and Juliet for longer than a week, two weeks until she no longer has to worry about running into Benvolio Montague on set.

It’s been a few weeks since the Met Gala, since she decided she was going to kiss him, since he had disappeared in the middle of the after party they attended and hadn’t spoken to her since.

Which, at first, worried her, but now, she’s only pissed. But if he doesn’t want to talk to her, she doesn’t want to talk to him.

Rosaline has always considered herself a level-headed person, but everything about Benvolio Montague makes her unbalanced. She squishes the feelings of wanting to kiss him into the farthest corners of her mind, and instead focuses on her job, on the show, on planning renovations for her house, and deciding to treat herself to a trip once hiatus season starts.

But she still has two weeks, so she’s going to use the free gym as much as she can, because the one closest to her in California is almost always crowded, and certainly doesn’t have a weapons room. She contemplates turning one of the rooms in the house into a personal gym while she walks into the building, still not sure what she’s in the mood for tonight.

She’s vaguely aware of the music playing from the kickboxing room, but she walks in before she actually recognizes it, and almost walks straight into the last person she wants to see.

The amount of times this has happened in the past months is starting to get a little ridiculous. He also never seems to be wearing a shirt.

His hair has gotten even longer, even in the few short weeks since she’s last seen him. He’s obviously been here for a while, since his curls are sticking to his forehead, and his cheeks are flushed from the workout.

Rosaline should turn around. She should just quietly slip into the next room, complete ignore him like he’s been ignoring her, but her feet are frozen.

Before she can force herself to move, he glances up, and he eyes catch hers, leaving her only more paralyzed.

Benvolio laughs, but it’s humorless. “Of course.” He says, mostly under his breath, but she can hear him. He punches the bag in front of him hard enough that the chain it’s connected to shakes like it’s going to break.

Anger flares up inside of her and Rosaline is finally able to move her feet again. “Don’t stop on my part, Montague.” She says, intent on marching into the other room without sparking him another glance, but takes two steps until he’s blocking her path.

“Wanna fight Capulet?” He asks, much like the first time they met in the gym. There’s no humor in his voice now, no playful light in his eyes. Instead, there’s dark circles under his eyes, and the hard lines of his face are drawn.

“Fine.”

She drops her bag, and follows him to the center of the room. She’s still pissed at him, but the part of her that wants to kiss him, the part of her that remembers the night of the Met Gala before he became an asshole softens her slightly.

Rosaline catches his eye and she bring her knuckles up to her lips, kissing them quickly, like he told her to do before she punched him in the face again.

Benvolio trips over his own feet.

He drops his hands, and then he deflates, all of the tension in his body sliding out of him in his next breath.

“I was fired.”

xXx

They grab a pizza on their way back to his apartment. He explains to her how at the Met Gala he received and email from Escalus, saying that they needed to meet once he was back in Canada. He wouldn’t have been too worried if his showrunner hadn’t also texted him saying he had tried everything he could. He told her that he was so confused and he didn’t want to face her like that, not knowing what was going on.

They are both freshly showered, and his hair is still sticking up in weird places when they sit down on the floor, the pizza box sitting on the small table in front of the TV.

“Did he give you a reason?” Rosaline asks, staring at her piece of pizza instead of him.

“My behavior. He cited me punching paparazzi and sleeping with over half the people on set.” Benvolio sighs and takes a bite of his pizza.

“Didn’t you punch the pap like 4 years ago?”

Benvolio nods. “Yeah. And I dated Stella for the last three. So everything I’m being fired for happened in season 1, and I’ve cleaned up my act since then.” Benvolio shrugs, but his hands are shaking.

“Why did you punch the paparazzi?” She remembers it happening, and making a comment about it when they were still fighting over interviews, but she never learned the why behind it.

“Do you remember Alexa Minola? We were dating for publicity, because my uncle knew her dad, and they both thought a high-profile relationship would help both of our careers. And then my good for nothing Uncle told everyone we were engaged, and I actually proposed to her, saying we got along nicely, and if I had to be 22 and married to anyone, it would be her. And then, Stella joined the cast, and I fell a little bit in love with her, so I told Alexa, broke off the engagement, because we weren’t ever actually romantically involved. Then my uncle once again sold a story to the stupid tabloids that I cheated on her, which Alexa went along with.” He sighs, and runs a hand through his hair.

“I couldn’t start dating Stella directly then, because she would be seen as the other woman, so I went on very public dates with tons of different people, making myself out to be this party playboy, so once I did start dating Stella, she wouldn’t be villainized. The paps kept asking me about Alexa every time I stepped out of the house, and the one I punched asked which of my bitches was the better fuck than Alexa, so I broke his nose.” He shrugs, finishing off his pizza. “Which, now is making me violent and distracting others on the set. So I’m fired. Being killed off in the last episode.”

Rosaline reaches for his hand without really thinking.

“I stupidly asked Stella to leave with me, but she’s becoming a bigger lead, with a larger salary, so,” He shrugs again.

“I can talk to him.” She offers, because she doesn’t really know what else to say.

Benvolio turns to her. “I don’t think…”

“He listens to me. And this is unfair. Don’t you have a contract?”

“It ends this season. We were in the talks of renewing it. But I don’t want you to do that. I think it might be the better. I can work on a new project. Maybe start my animation. Do an indie movie. Do something else.” He runs his thumb over her skin.

“Are you sure?”

He nods. “Sorry I ignored you. I wasn’t sure how to process all of it.”

“Don’t be. I’d have done the same thing.” She twists herself so she’s angled toward him better. The urge to tell him everything she was thinking at the Met Gala reemerges. “Are you going to be moving back to California?” She asks instead.

“Yeah. Romeo is already looking for places for me that are close to him and Jules.” He lifts the hand that is holding hers and gently pulls her closer to him. “Maybe I’ll be close to you?”

“I like you!” She blurts out, squeezing her eyes shut so she can’t see his reaction.

She feels his hand slide along her cheek, and she opens her eyes, to find him smiling at her.

“I like you too, Rosaline Capulet.”

She leans into him, close enough that she can see his eyes darken slightly.

She’s going to kiss him. She leans in, wraps her arm around his neck. Her nose brushes against his, and…

Her phone rings, making them both jump. Rosaline reaches for it, Benvolio keeping his arm around her waist so she doesn’t move too far.

“Are you with Ben?” Juliet asks, worry in her voice.

“Yeah. Why?” Rosaline says.

“Turn on the TV. E news.” Rosaline switches the phone to speaker and grabs the remote. The TV flickers to life, and the hostess is standing in front of the screen, not smiling.

“Bad new _Vigilante_ fans. Sources are saying leading man Benvolio Montague has been fired. But that’s not all. Apparently the reason is linked to none other than Rosaline Capulet. Stayed tuned for more information.” The screen flashes a picture of them at the Met Gala, and then an even older picture of her and Escalus from when they were still teenagers.

The TV switches to commercial, and Rosaline sighs. She’s still on the phone with Juliet, but the notifications are making her phone go crazy. 

She turns to him, not sure what to expect. He’s staring at the TV, hand clenched.

“I’ll call you back later.” Juliet says, before the line goes dead.

“You know,” Benvolio says, sighing. “I assumed it was because of you, but I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“I need to talk to him.” She says. “If it’s true then I’m getting you you’re job back.”

They are not as close as they were before. She knows she can’t kiss him now.

Benvolio grabs her hand. “Capulet. It doesn’t matter why.”

Her phone rings again, and this time it’s Olivia. She squeezes his hand before taking her phone and walking to the other side of the room.

“I don’t know where this came from! I’m so sorry, Ros, I swear once I find out who did this I am going to skin them alive.” Olivia says. “I am your publicist everything is supposed to go through me!”

Rosaline can hear her typing at the computer.

“Olivia. Take a deep breath.” Rosaline says. Out of the corner of her eye she watches Benvolio pick up his own phone, dropping his head onto the couch behind him.

“You’re not freaking out.” Olivia states, obviously confused.

“I need to talk to Escalus and figure this out. But everyone is going to believe this, it’s already out there. We can make a statement at another time if it comes to it.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m going to keep working on this. We should meet when you have a chance. We need to sort out our stories.”

“Okay. I’ll call you later. I have some things I need to sort out first.” Rosaline hangs up the phone and is about to find Escalus’ number when the commercial ends and the hostess reappears the photos now on the wall behind her.

“Fact or Fiction: _Demonology’s_ leading lady and one of Met Gala’s best dressed Rosaline Capulet is dating America’s heart throb Benvolio Montague. That we don’t know the answer to, but we do know that Rosaline was once tied to none other than Escalus Prince, or the president of Principal Networks, which hosts both _Demonology_ and _Vigilante_.”

Rosaline is so focused on the TV she doesn’t realize how bad her hands are shaking until Benvolio reaches over and places his hand over hers.

“An insider source has just revealed that Ben has been fired from his position as Drew, the brooding, attractive vigilante that gives the super hero show its name. While no official information has been offered concerning this, some sources are saying it’s all about Rosaline Capulet. Rosaline and Escalus where together a few years ago, before Escalus became the youngest head of a top network in recent years and Rosaline became the spitfire Aquilla. And now, while the rumors are not confirmed, Rosaline and Benvolio have been caught out together at few major events and their banter across social media is not something to brush aside. Which has some sources believing Benvolio’s fate has little to do with his performance and a lot to do with his affections. Tell us what you th-“

The TV shuts off and the room is suddenly much darker. His hand is still covering hers, and for some reason she feels like she about to cry. Because if it is true, and Benvolio is losing his job and going through this shit again because of her, she doesn’t know if what they have can ever be more than lingering touches and a few stupid fake kisses.

“I’m sorry.” She says her voice shaking more than she wants it to.

Benvolio turns to her, his hands sliding up her arms. “Ros. Don’t be. It’s not your fault. And even if it was, I don’t care.” His fingers catch along her jaw, and she leans closer to him without even thinking about it. “This entire thing is for the best. After the anger, and all the bullshit, I think I’m relieved. I did what my uncle wanted, and now, I don’t have to anymore.”

He leans close enough that he can feel his breath on her lips. “I’m going to kiss you now. For real this time, if that’s okay?”

“Please.” She says, dropping herself forward so there’s barely any space between them, and this time, it’s actually going to happen, she’s not going to let anything –

Her phone rings. Again. Stopping them for the second time in less than half an hour. His lips are less than an inch away, and she wants to close this distance, but then it rings again, and he laughs before falling back onto the couch.

“After you answer that, I’m taking both of our phones and locking them in the closet.” He says.

“Deal.” She says. She unlocks her phone, only to find Escalus’s number staring her down.

_You have 2 missed calls._

Rosaline stares at it for longer than necessary.

She texts him back.

_We need to talk._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back babes! Sorry this took so long, again, I know I'm the worst. I've had the idea for the chapter in my head since about chapter 2, and I really wanted to do it justice. And then, as I was writing, I almost felt like it could be the last chapter of this, but I realized I wasn't done with this AU just yet! I'm planning on my two or three more chapters and then an epilogue, and I'm not going to promise a time line but hopefully it won't take several months again.
> 
> Fun fact! Minola is the name of the girl that Benvolio broke his engagement off with in the actually show, and it's something I've been wanting to explore or mention for a really long time. 
> 
> As always, thank you so so so much for reading. Your comments make me want to finish this even when I have no idea where I am going. Thank you for sticking with me through my disaster of a schedule, I love you all so so much!!


	10. Chapter 10

Finding a place to talk is harder than it should be.

Rosaline texts him to meet her in the parking lot of their favorite diner, the one they used to eat at when Demonology first started taping, before anyone knew either of their names and they were still connected at the hip.

She leaves Benvolio’s place, promising to come back once things get figured out, and she wants to kiss him goodbye, but thinks better of it, and instead pulls him into a hug, one that lasts way too long to be considered friendly.

She’s sitting on the hood of her car when Escalus finally pulls up. She pockets her phone and crosses her arms across her chest.

For what it’s worth, Escalus looks like a mess. His shirt is wrinkled, and he has dark circles under his eyes. It’s almost enough to make her heart ache for him, but then she remembers that he fired Benvolio, and it’s enough to make her pissed again.

He quietly makes his way up next to her on the car, and for a moment, they just sit there in silence. It’s a nice night for the middle of May, and if she closes her eyes, they are 19 again, without any of the adult problems they have now, before she was famous, and he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, before they knew what heartbreak was. They are 19, and he will reach for her hand, and her heart with flutter, and then he’ll kiss her goodnight, and everything will be fine.

But they aren’t 19 anymore. They are adults. Adults that have no time for each other. Adults who make decisions that affect other peoples lives. Adults that can’t seem to get their shit together.

She swallows and opens her eyes. “So?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Why don’t you start with why you fired Benvolio.” She says.

She knows him well enough that even in the dark she can see the way his jaw tenses.

“I don’t think he is the kind of person that Principal networks should be supporting.” Escalus says.

“Based on what?”

“He’s violent. Punched a man in the face before. Asked you to fight with him. And according to Paris he’s been violent recently, bar fights and arguments with executives.”

“Wait. Paris?” She asks.

“Paris Mantua. He’s my cousin, has a smaller role in the commercial and photography part of Principal networks.” Escalus explains.

“As in the reason Livia has been in Greece for the past three months?”

Escalus thinks for a moment. “Probably.”

“And you just believe him?”

“What would he have to gain by lying?”

Rosaline pauses a moment, trying to collect her thoughts. According to the few words she had been able to pull out of Livia, Paris is the perfect guy. It doesn’t make sense that he would try to ruin Benvolio’s career.

“What about me?”

The words ring between them, dropping into the night like coins into an empty jar. She feels like she can almost hear them collide with the concrete.

“If you are referring to the tablo-“

“You and I both know I am. Don’t play dumb with me, Escalus. Does it have anything to do with me?”

He turns to her, and she realizes it’s the first time he’s looked at her since he got here.

“Rosaline, I’ve been in love with you since I was 16.” He reaches for her hand, but she pulls it back. “I messed up, when I was promoted. I never wanted to hurt you, and I thought letting you go would be the smartest move. I don’t want to watch you get hurt again.”

Rosaline thinks it would be more surprising, hearing him admit to it, but really, it just settles into her bones and makes her tired.

“You don’t know anything about Benvolio and I, or what our relationship is, if we even have one. And you firing him because of that-“

“It wasn’t the reason I fired him. Paris’s stories and his past behavior is what lost him his job.” He cuts in.

“Did you even let him defend himself?”

“Vigilante’s numbers are not where they should be. The test audiences were bored with him. I think it was time to move on.” Escalus says.

And he’s right. It is time to move on. She sits up straighter. “You’re right.”

Surprises jumps across his face. “You agree with me?”

“No.” Rosaline shakes her head. “I think it is time to move on.”

His face falls, and he looks like he’s going to reach for her, but she slides off the hood of the car.

“You can’t keep brushing into my life whenever you want, making choices that affect me personally. You are my boss, Esc. It’s not fair of you to make decisions that you know will fuck with my life because you still have feelings for me or whatever. You made your choices. And we both know that we can’t really be friends, I mean look where it’s taken us,” she says. She leans against the car, and glances at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’ll always care about you. But these last few months it feels like you have been going out of your way to hurt me.”

“Rosaline —”

“Just. Be careful about who you are taking you information from. This world is little dangerous, and you’re not as strong as you think.”

Escalus sighs. “I was angry, when I came up with the crossover idea, and even angrier when they decided to make you make out with him. And when Paris came to me, all I could think of was protecting you. It’s not fair of me.” He slides off the car. “I’ll offer him his job back.”

“Thanks.” She takes two steps forward and presses her lips against his cheek.

“And I’m sorry,” he says, stopping her just before she opens her car. “About Italy. And us. And everything.”

He smiles at her, that stupid, sad smile that tugs on her heart strings just a little too tightly.

“Me too.”

xXx

Rosaline stands outside his door, afraid to knock.

They’ve been through a lot in the past few months. Hell, they’ve been through a lot in the past few hours.

Every time they came close to something, something else happened that would stand in the way. Maybe it was the universe telling them that they shouldn’t. Maybe they just weren’t meant to be.

Rosaline closes her eyes and holds her hand up to the door.

She at least needs to try.

“Hey,” he says, opening the door 2 seconds after she knocks.

“Hi.” She rocks on her heels. Benvolio runs his hand through his hair.

“How did it go?”

“He’s going to offer you your job back.” She bites her lip, and then smiles. “I promise I didn’t ask him to.”

It gets a smile out of him, and she wants to do everything to keep that smile on his face.

“What about you?” He asks, resting his arms on his kitchen island.

“What about me?” She leans on the other side of the island, close enough that she can reach out and touch his hand.

“Your ex-boyfriend/boss fired the guy who you pretended to date for a few award shows, possibly because he’s jealous. That’s enough that make anyone a little bit unsteady,” Benvolio says.

“That was only a little bit of the reason. The major one was Paris Mantua was slandering your good name.”

Benvolio’s face twists in confusion. “Paris? What does he gain from it. Pretty sure the last time I spoke to him was when Merc dragged me along to family party when we were kids.”

Rosaline shrugs and grabs a cold piece of pizza from the box. “I asked Escalus the same thing.”

They sit like that for a moment, Rosaline chewing on her pizza and Benvolio staring at a space on the table, until he reaches across and squeezes her hand.

“You sure you’re okay? I know how rumors can mess up one’s mental state.”

“I’m fine,” Rosaline says. “Actually, I’m better than fine.” She looks at their hands, linked across his counter top, and drops her pizza back into the box. “And I mean what I said, earlier. About liking you. Probably too much. Whatever happened on TV or with Escalus doesn’t change that.”

She knows she’s rambling a bit, and that her heart is beating way too fast for a normal person’s heart, but Benvolio delicately twists his hand in his until he can bring it up to his mouth.

“I like you too. Way too much for my own good.” He presses a kiss to her knuckles and she makes this stupid sound in the back of her throat that sort of makes her want to die. “And getting fire for it made me realizes I should have told you ages ago.”

“Ages?”

Benvolio nods. “Ages.” He’s slowly making his way around the island, never letting go of her hand. “At the Met Gala, in the car with your eyelash.” He takes a deep breath, shaking his head. “No, at the premier party, when our scene was on the screen and everyone was cheering about our on-screen kiss, all I wanted to do was make that a real-life kiss.” He stops in front of her. “No, New Year’s. The night of, when you asked if I had someone to kiss. I should have said no. Because I wanted to be kissing you.”

She can’t breathe. Rosaline doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to breathe again.

“I’m a bit of an idiot,” he says, gently running his hand along her cheek. “I’ve been into you for quite some time, but family names and stupid feuds and a whole lot of shitty self-confidence —"

“Ben,” she says, cutting him off. “Stop talking.” She tangles her fingers into his hair, and tugs ever so slightly.

“Make me, Capulet.”

He flashes her one of his signature smirks, and she rolls her eyes at him before pushing herself onto her toes and pulling him down to her level.

“In your dreams, Montague.”

His lips connect with hers, and something inside of her screams finally.

This isn’t for cameras, or for paparazzi, or for viewers, or for anyone else. This is for them. Only them.

She melts against him, and Benvolio takes advantage of their positions to lift her onto the counter, his hands finding her waist, hers sliding up his chest.

Rosaline pulls back for a breath, and Benvolio peppers kisses down her face, down her throat, catching the space between right above her shirt collar.

“Do you want to grab dinner with me? Or catch a movie?” Benvolio asks, his teeth catching on her neck. “Like go on a real date?

“As opposed to?” She asks, her brain running a little slow. His left hand is dancing along the seam of her shirt, making a little hard to think.

“Fighting each other in the gym. Going to the world’s biggest award shows.” Benvolio pulls back from where he was definitely marking her neck, his eyes finding hers. “We’ve been doing this entire thing sort of backwards. I want to go on a first date with you, and do normal things, like grocery shopping and the silly celebrity things like award shows with you. I just, really, really want to date you, Rosaline Capulet.” He looks nervous, like he’s afraid of what she is going to say.

“I think we’re sort of past first date things,” she says. His hands are halfway up her shirt and she’s fiddling with the second button of his.

“Okay, second date things then,” he says. He’s smiling at her, and she’s pulling him closer again, and she’s Rosaline Capulet and he’s Benvolio Montague.

He’s can be infuriating, and she can be stubborn, and he has the softest lips she has ever kissed, and she is most certainly looking forward to doing something as simple as grocery shopping with him.

He’s currently unemployed and she has a half-finished house in California, and there’s so many things that could go wrong, but there’s so many other things that could go right.

And she wants to try. Even if the universe is conspiring against them. Even if everything they know is crashing down around them.

Even if it means breaking each other’s hearts.

Because she trusts him. She trusts him with her heart and with her mind, and with every part of her soul.

Benvolio pulls back, breathless, and he smiles at her. “All good, Capulet?”

His lips are swollen, and his cheeks are red, and she rests her forehead against his. “Never been better.”

xXx

Livia’s stuffed into the couch, waving Rosaline off every half hour when she comes to check if she’s okay.

They’re in the house, their house, the one that’s currently almost finished, after almost an entire summer of working on it.

But Livia’s stuffed her face into the couch, after shutting down all of the TV’s and phones and computers in the almost finished house.

“Is she okay?” Benvolio asks, closing his can of paint.

Rosaline shrugs. “I mean, she’s heartbroken. Stunned. Not in the mood for the aftermath, but I mean, I also know she’s proud of herself. Singlehandedly stopping the takeover of Principal Networks is nothing to balk at.”

Benvolio slings his hand over her shoulder and presses a kiss to her temple. “She learned from the best.”

Rosaline knows there are much more important matters going on here, but her heart jumps a little.

The door crashes open and Juliet runs in, Romeo hot on her ankles.

“What’s the emergency?” Juliet’s eyes scan the room until they fall onto Livia’s shape on the couch.

“Paris.” Rosaline provides for her. Livia groans and attempts to stuff herself further into the couch, to little avail.

“Did he break up with her?” Juliet asks. The lump that is Livia makes another noise, finally popping her head out of the pillows.

“Is that what you told her?”

Rosaline raises both hands in surrender, before curling herself back in Benvolio. “I said emergency meeting. Thought it was best if you explained.”

Livia rolls her eyes and stuffs her face back into the cushions. “Just turn on the TV. It should probably be all over the gossip channels by now.”

Juliet listens to her, finding the remote before collapsing onto the couch, narrowly missing sitting on Livia by Romeo’s split-second warning to her.

They flick through the channels until they land on E news, and the same reporter who broke Benvolio’s firing is standing on screen again.

“You all know Livia Capulet right. Gorgeous model, sister of Rosaline, cousin of Juliet, full time biomedical engineering student, and until recently, girlfriend of none other than Paris Mantua, million dollar play boy who also just happens to be connected to Principality Networks.” The hostess takes one of her dramatic pauses, and Livia groans.

“Well, not only is she brilliant, beautiful, and successful, she also just stopped one of the biggest scandals in recent years. That ex-boyfriend of hers, Paris, was apparently in cahoots with her aunt, Giuliana, in an attempt to take over Principle Networks. Documents states that a variety of sabotages were set up, including the firing of Benvolio Montague, the rumors concerning Escalus Prince, and payments to Nielsen to make viewership appear down, all so Prince would fall into bad favor, and Paris could step up into the leading role. Miss. Capulet discovered all this, took detailed notes, and brought it to the attention of Escalus Prince and Principal Networks, just before Paris was going to plan his final attack.”

Juliet pauses the show and turns to Livia, who had once again appeared out of her cocoon.

“Liv, that is seriously bad ass.” Juliet says.

Livia shrugs. “Until Paris and your mom come after me.”

“I’ve already spoken to uncle, and he said it will be hard for Giuliana to do anything since he’s cutting her off. And he’s already said he will protect you from whatever Paris attempts to do. But I’m pretty sure he’ll be up to his ears in lawsuits from Principal Networks for years to come, so you should be okay.” Rosaline says.

Livia looks at her, and her eyes a red from crying, but she’s smiling at her. “It’s all because of what you told me about Ben.”

 “And how he was fired?” Romeo asks.

Livia nods. “It didn’t make sense as to why Paris would do that, so I started looking, asking some questions, and that’s when I found everything.” She sighs and looks to Benvolio. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice things sooner.”

Benvolio shrugs. “It was for the best.” He pulls Rosaline closer. “If I wasn’t fired, I don’t think Ros here would have gotten up the courage to tell me she liked me.” He’s smiling down at her, and she elbows him in the gut.

Romeo’s phone chimes, and Livia finally sits up from the couch, dropping her head into Juliet’s lap instead of the pillows.

“Merc and Ant are on their way. With lots of alcohol. And an apology for being related to terrible people,” Romeo says.

Livia is smiling, and Juliet is laughing, and Rosaline is surrounded by her favorite people in the entire world.

She escapes to the kitchen, so she can attempt to put together some snacks with what they have in the barely filled fridge, and so she can take a moment to collect her thoughts. A lot had happened in the last few months. But everyone had made it out okay. She had made it out okay.

“Hey.”

Rosaline knows his voice by heart now. His hands slip around her waist and he presses a kiss to the back of her neck.

“She’s going to be okay, you know,” Benvolio says, resting his head on her shoulder. “She has you, and all of your experience of being thrust into the public eye.”

“I know.” Rosaline twists in his arms so she can look at him, winding her hands until they rest behind his neck.

They’ve been doing this for about three months now. Benvolio was booked for an indie movie and developing his own animated show, and she was still Aquilla, but planning on working on some other small things, and it had been good. Really good.

They went out to dinner, and the movies, and did silly mundane things like grocery shopping together.

“We’re going to be okay, too, you know,” she says.

“Are we?”

Rosaline nods. “Because no matter what, we have each other.”

Benvolio smiles, and then he’s kissing her, and she’s kissing him back, and this is how she knows she’s going to be okay.

Because she feels safe. Because she trusts him.

Because they have each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that, my friends, is the end. 
> 
> I just wanted to say such a big thank you for sticking with me through this. It started as a one shot. I was planning on keeping it a one shot, but your comments and your support turned it into this long, complicated thing that I am so, so proud of. This is the longest fic I have ever written, and I've been writing it for over a year. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> I'm over on tumblr [here!](http://fallinfor-youreyes.tumblr.com/)


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